I Write Real Dramas, Not Fairytales! I Think
by luvracci
Summary: Aya's falling for the perfect no-no. FujixOC / Ch.9--Soapsuds--updated!
1. Only Seven Letters

This is my very first fanfic and so sorry if you don't like it...but I'm new at this! And if you don't like it, please tell me why so I can improve it, thanks!! About the title, I just wanted something casual to get in tune with the atmosphere of the story.

And no, unfortunately I don't own PoT, just the OCs.

You may want to know these obvious things:

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

O and for future reference, I've got some basic Japanese translations on the bottom and some Japanese grammar tips for beginners.

Well, here we go!! Officially launching my first fanfic...

* * *

"Nm...eto...the hiragana for 'ka' should be..."

The wannabe writer tugged at a handful of her brunette hair and finally threw her head down on her desk in defeat. She revived a few nanoseconds later and scratched her head in aggravation. Her scarlet eyes glittered a bit as she stared down at the list of hiragana she knew how to write. Its contents? Seven letters. "Mou..."

She couldn't do anymore than hate herself for not being able to write Japanese ABCs when she heard the familiar footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Oi, Aya!" her sister shouted, rudely barging in Aya's room without knocking. "Kaa-chan says to come down for din---are you crying?"

"Aoi..." Aya whined, "aren't you upset at all that you're not able to write decent hiragana?"

With a sigh, Aoi flopped herself onto Aya's bed, the light reflecting off her bleached hair. She started, "You know we've talked about this before..."

"I know, I know. But how am I supposed to become a successful writer if I can't even write more than seven letters?"

Aoi's eyes widened. "You can't even write more than WHAT?"

Aya just stared at her paper.

"We're Chinese, Aya," Aoi said, "you should be able to do better than that."

"We're _half_-Chinese, half-Japanese," Aya corrected, "and not all Chinese people are smart."

"Well, if you were able to focus more on your studies than drawing all that manga crap, you'd think you were intelligent enough to learn the entire ABCs, hm?"

"Not helping, Aoi."

"Be more optimistic! We've only been in Tokyo for a week, and you should've gotten yourself prepared. But instead, you wait until the last night, right before school starts..."

"So? What about you? All you did the past week was shop and cruise the city..."

"Hey! It's not my fault that we were stuck in China all our lives, but now that Dad's dead, Kaa-chan has to step in for us, doesn't she?"

"Well, yeah, but why Japan? We could've stayed in China!" Aya stood up from her seat in frustration and gathered up all her papers. "I...I feel really out of place here..."

"You'll get used to it." Aoi said, staring at a strand of her hair.

"Says you," Aya glared.

"I miss Dad." Aoi suddenly changed the topic. "I wouldn't have to reassure you like this if he was around...he always knew the right thing to say."

"Stop trying to make me feel ungrateful."

"Well, it is true, and I'm just saying that you can at least spend a minute or so and think about all the things that you've taken for granted."

With a sigh, Aya got up from her chair and started to walk out of the room. "Aoi, you coming---GAAH!! What are you doing?!"

She nearly jumped across the room to see her older sister reading a fan fiction that Aya had typed in Chinese on her laptop. She smacked Aoi on the head, shut her laptop off, and hugged it like it was her only source of life. "That's personal stuff!!"

"I always thought that writing was one of the few things that you were good at, but...you suck at that too! Go figure."

"How much of it did you read??"

"Enough to realize that I'll never want to read anymore of your fairytales again."

"What do you mean by 'fairytales'? I really worked hard on this! It's natural drama that could happen to anybody."

"Ha ha. You really are young, aren't you. You write about it, but...have you ever actually been in love?"

Aya rolled her eyes. "Of course! Hello? I'm _fourteen _here."

"But you've never gone steady with a guy." Aoi pointed out.

"Shut up."

Aoi laughed and jumped off the bed. "Okay, be that way. But a hint of advice: don't leave your laptop on your bed again."

A voice downstairs rumbled a few words in Chinese.

"Kaa-chan's starting to get really angry...we'd better go." Aoi walked out of the room, leaving Aya to sort out her thoughts.

"_I guess I should put aside writing for a while and practice my Japanese...I'll be starting school tomorrow anyway..." _

Aya grinned triumphantly as she made her decision. "Yeah...school...what was it called again? Seishun Gakuen or whatever? Hmm..."

She casually walked down the stairs and put her thoughts aside, all the while subconsciously thinking about her new school.

* * *

-THE NEXT DAY-

"O, ye lords..."

Aya stared at herself in the mirror. "PINK and GREEN? Have these people finally lost their sense of humanity?"

"It doesn't look so bad," Aoi looked at Aya's reflection over her shoulder. "In fact, I think it suits you rather well."

Aya did her best to calm down and not strangle her sister while a middle-aged woman grabbed Aya's bag. "Here," she handed it to Aya.

"Thanks, Ma," Aya took the bag and turned away from the mirror.

"Uh-uh, it's _Kaa-chan_ now." Aoi said needlessly.

Aya ignored her. "Well!" she breathed. "I...guess I'm off, then. Catch you guys later!"

She dashed out her new house and stopped by the bus stop in the intersection of two streets. "Nm...school starts in about twenty minutes..." Aya looked around for the bus and decided to wait a while.

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick..._

Eleven minutes has passed, and there was still no sign of the bus. Aya slouched against a pole and stared at her watch impatiently. "Gawd...I'm gonna be late!! Where's the bus??" She looked around and still no sign of her ride. She ran a few meters right. No bus. A few meters left. No bus.

"_WTF??? No, no, no, no, no...I'm really gonna be in for it now when a student arrives late, looking like an idiot, unable to write in Japanese..." _She wanted to tug all her hair out when suddenly---_BONK!! _

"Eh?" Aya found herself staring at a sign of the bus schedule. She rubbed her hot forehead and felt dumb for a few seconds. _"Has that been here for the entire time? Ah, well...let's see...the next bus should be here at---EHHHHH?!?!?!? WHAT?? THE BUS ALREADY LEFT THIRTY MINUTES AGO??? AND..."_

"...the next bus isn't arriving till 10???" she finished out loud.

Tears of pity sprang from her eyes as she thought about how unfair her life was. _"Moving? But why? I felt PERFECTLY happy about living in China. But...now..."_ Aya sighed.

"_l...there's nothing to do but go home and pray that Aoi would be kind enough to drive me there..."_

"Aoi? I'm home…"

"Huh???" Aoi jumped up from the couch at the sight of her younger sister at the door. "You're back so soon!! Did you get rejected already??"

"Seriously. I need you to drive me to school. I missed the bus. No complaining."

"Fine. Where to?"

"...To my school..."

"Well? The address?"

"..."

Aoi smacked herself on her forehead. "I guess I'll just wing it, but...at this rate, I'm not gonna drive you back home once you do get rejected from the school on your first day, okay?"

Aoi's car pulled up on a driveway and Aya got outside to make sure that the big white building was her stop.

"Seishun Gakuen!" she read the bronze kanji excitedly. "Yeah, this is it!!"

Aoi rolled down her window. "You sure you know where to go?"

"Sure. It's class D for 3rd years...and that's...that's...uh...look, just go, okay?"

"Fine. See ya in a full 6 hours, hopefully."

"_Hmm...now that Aoi's out of the way, I can AT LEAST start fresh here...make myself seem like a better person...of course I'm already an hour late, but that's fine...class D..." _

She entered one of the air-conditioned hallways and roamed around. Unfortunately for her, the classroom wasn't that easy to find... She went up a flight of stairs, passed by a few hallways, stopped by about fifty classrooms, and felt pitied once again.

"_Arrrgghh…!! How am I supposed to know where to go if I can't even---... Sorry, old man...I think I'm going to runaway now! I know I sound selfish, but...a new home, a new school, a new country...I can't handle it!! Back in my old school, I could at least find my classroom...now, I---"_

**_TMP! TMP! TMP! _**

Aya heard echoes of rushing footsteps. She neared a corner and saw a figure that was growing smaller by the second. _"Huh? A late student...? My chance to ask for the directions!!"_ She summoned all the willpower in her and shouted, "Uh...a-ano...**_SUMIMASEN!!!"_**

_**SCREEEEEEEEECHHHH!!**_

"Hnya?" came the reply. He turned around. Aya saw that he had a band-aid on his cheek, and his red hair curled out a bit on the ends.

"E-E-Eto...I think I'm lost..." Aya sweatdropped at the weird reply.

"Hoi? Where are you going?" the guy's face shimmered with childlike curiosity.

"Uh...classroom D, I think..."

"I'm going there too, nya!!" he dashed up to her and Aya saw that he was actually pretty tall. "I had tennis practice this morning and I forgot my---ne, are you new?"

"Uh...un, today's my first day." Aya smiled. "My name's Aya Minase."

"Eiji Kikumaru!" he beamed, "Yoroshiku desu!!"

"_Wow. Hyper. Very."_ Aya stared up at him, his mouth curled up like a cat's. _"And wait...is he...SALUTING me or something?" _

"Right this way, nya!!"

Eiji led---or sped---Aya down the hallway, nearly dragging her by her arm. Aya gripped her bag tighter when he suddenly stopped short in front of a door with a sign above it that said 9-D. As if he didn't sense Aya's nervousness, he slid open the door with a **_BANG!---_ **and dragged her in the classroom.

It seemed that the entire class was working on a test, and their concentration was shattered as they listened to Eiji babble, "Sensei, minna, we have a new student!! Tell them your name, Aya!!"

A series of laughter rippled through the room, and Aya looked at Eiji, who had rushed to sit down in his desk and hear her introduction, apparently oblivious about what he just said.

She finally opened her mouth after the laughter died down and said, "Well, now you know my first name, but my last name's Minase. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu..."

The class said a series of greetings that Aya didn't catch, but she saw Eiji lean over to whisper in a blind-looking guy's ear. She couldn't tell if the blind dude was smiling at her, or maybe he was just always smiling like that, but she politely smiled back.

She showed the teacher her schedule. "Welcome to Seigaku, Aya," he told her, "I hope you'll like it here...oh, we were just taking this really simple grammar test...would you like to take it?"

"A-A grammar test?" Aya wanted to run away.

"Yes. It's very, very simple. Elementary stuff. I'm sure you'll do fine!"

The teacher, not knowing that Aya can only read and write about twenty letters, which she crammed last night (there's fifty in the Japanese alphabet), handed her a sheet of paper and said, "Here…there's an empty seat behind Fuji. Fuji, raise your hand."

The blind guy raised his hand, his smile still pasted on his face.

"That boy. Sit behind him."

"Ah...okay...I guess..." Aya brushed her sweaty palms against each other and shuffled across the room rather awkwardly.

"H-Hi," she said to the guy named Fuji.

"Aya-chan, was it?" his voice was as calm and deep as a sea after a storm. (A/N if you've ever heard him speak, you know what I mean!) He was still smiling. "Kawaii no namae ne."

Aya laughed softly and sat in the desk. "Iya, I don't think it's cute at all, because my sister came up with it."

Fuji chuckled softly and resumed his test.

"_So his name is Fuji...GAAAA!! Concentrate on the test and worry about blind people later!!!" _

Aya managed to get a determined spirit when she faced her grammar test, but all she did was gnaw at her pencil and stare stupidly at the sheet of paper.

"_Mmmm...'ae'...and I think that's a 'nu'...there's a 'ka'...dammit, why isn't there any kanji here??? If there were, it'd be a breeze...!!"_

She stopped chewing on her poor pencil and looked around the room. Everyone was already on the second page! She looked at Fuji's back and bent her neck in an awkward position, trying to peek over his shoulders.

"_Ah! I can see his answers...yosha, I'm going to have to cheat to get myself out of this one!! Nm...a little to the right...I still can't see over his head!! Maybe if I arched my back out like this...and bent my neck more to the right...wait---how did he get that answer for number 20? It doesn't make any---_**KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"**

There was a swirl of colors, a sea of faces, and a million and one sudden cries before Aya suddenly noticed that she was on the ground, her neck contorted and twisted weirdly. She had hoped that she only screamed internally, but unfortunately she screamed out loud and everyone was staring at her, including Eiji and Fuji.

"Nani, Nani?? Aya? What happened, nya?!"

Aya opened her mouth to say something to the surprised Eiji, who appeared upside-down to her, but the first thing she noticed was the face beside Eiji---Fuji's surprised face---his eyes were opened and they were in a deep shade of azure.

"_So he's NOT blind? Oh good. Now he's able to see me like this---"_

"Nugh!" she tried standing up.

"Daijobukai?" Fuji asked her, surprised. Aya was nearly stupefied to see that he had his hands held in front of her.

"Arigatou---"

Before Aya could take his hand gratefully, a girl with big, red bangs jumped out of nowhere and pulled her arm, yanking her up from behind, nearly startling Aya to death.

The classmate gesticulated, "What-what were you _doing?"_

"Uh...I was...flexing my neck. Yeah! Uh..._cramps._ Had to do something," Aya shrugged, nodding slowly in an I-guess-this-is-how-it-goes way.

The classmate quirked an eyebrow. "You fell out of a desk stretching your neck?"

"Yeah!" Aya flexed her neck back and forth. "It feels...refreshed."

"..."

"I'm absolutely fine. Everybody, go back to doing your test stuff!"

"Aya...?" the teacher stood up and stared at her strangely. "I think you should go to the nurse's office...just in case...your...uh..._cramps_ come back."

"...Do I get to skip the test if I go?"

"...H-hai..."

Aya smiled brightly. "Okay, then!"

The teacher gave Aya another weird look, then switched his glance to the girl who helped her up. "Shiho-san, could please take her?"

"Sure! Follow me," she grabbed Aya's wrist and they left the classroom.

"Ano...your last name's Shiho, isn't it? Kirei..."

The girl laughed, her straight black hair and cherry bangs bouncing because she's the type of girl who uses the right shampoo and conditioner. "Yeah, that's a rare last name, but you can just call me Miyu."

Miyu had a petite figure and was around the same height as Aya, and she wore her uniform quite cutely---her sleeves were rolled up, her pink collar-scarf thingy was tied Paris-styled around her slender neck, turquoise bangles hung from her wrists, and she wore uneven stockings.

"_Wow...I feel kind of plain standing next to her..."_

Aya started, "Gomen ne, Miyu...you didn't have to take me, you'll lose time for your test!"

"Oh, that? I was already done when you came in. It was _beyond_ easy."

Aya felt her cheek muscle twitch. "Yeah...it...sure was, wasn't it? Aha ha..."

"So? How was it?" Miyu suddenly stopped walking and faced Aya, her eyes gleaming deviously.

"Eh? The school's pretty good, I guess, but I've only been here for---"

"No, no, no! I didn't mean _that._"

Aya gave Miyu a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about _Fuji?_ You know, the guy you sit behind?"

"Huh? Well, he's pretty nice..."

"_...what is she talking about?" _

Miyu's face shifted from an excited look to an analyzing look. "Oh. I guess you're not like all the other girls in our school, then."

"Are you saying I'm weird?"

"Iya, I'm just saying that you're not as...fangirly."

"Why, is the bli---the Fuji guy that popular?"

"Hell, yes!! Almost all the girls in our class have been in love with him ever since they first saw him!"

"...Are _you?_"

"...No." Miyu's eyes melted dreamily. "I like someone else."

"Who?"

"...Tezuka Kunimitsu. You probably don't know him, but...here, how about this---" she raised her finger in an army-like fashion--- "follow me after school today to spy on the tennis club."

"_What?_" Aya thought out loud. "Spy? Tennis? WHAT??" she repeated.

"No one will know. I do it all the time!" she smiles as if there was no harm at all.

"How can you say that?? It's like...stalking people or something..."

Miyu blind a couple of times before bursting into laughter. "No, it's not like _that_..." she managed between giggles, "...just join the girls' tennis club!"

"...You're kidding."

"No, I'm serious. You don't have to be good at it. Not all, but most of the girls join just so they could watch the regulars. Plus, you have a good chance just like any girl in our class to get their attention...actually, you have a better chance! You're cuter than an average person."

"...Maybe I should take _you_ to the nurse's office, Miyu...to make sure you _feel_ fine..."

"No, really! I mean it! You've got less cat-ish eyes than an average Japanese girl...are you Japanese?"

"Well, I'm half-Japanese, half-Chinese."

"Ooh! A little bit of spice from both Asian races, hm?"

"...Really. I insist. _Please_ let me take you to the nurse's office."

"C'mon! Take compliments gracefully, and join the tennis club with me! It'll be fun!! You promise you'll sign up tomorrow, okay???"

So, without Aya's consent, Miyu dashed down the hallway, all the while talking about Tezuka and tennis.

* * *

-AFTER THE DAY-

"The Japanese keyboard's so stupid!! No, I don't want THAT kanji, I want THIS one!!"

Aya smashed the keys and yelled in frustration once again. Suddenly realizing what she had done, she looked up to the screen, hoping she didn't delete anything.

It read:

_Although some things weren't mentioned, hearts made of steel can still turn to rust. _

_Not wanting to think about Ryuchi anymore, she closed her eyes and listened to the humming of the night. Remembering his sweet voice when he said, "Kawaii no namae ne..."_

"...Oh my God." Aya stared at the paragraph that she wrote. It sounded just like...

"Maji?!" she slapped her cheeks. "No way!! Not _him_ again...!!"

She angrily smashed the delete button. **"WHY-IS-IT-THAT-HE-KEEPS-COM-ING-IN-TO-MY-THOUGHTS?!" **

She gasped for a moment and just breathed. "...Why..." she closed her eyes and imagined his eyes.

She felt herself smile although she didn't want to.

"_Why do I feel so...happy? I don't care about the guy, I barely know him...plus, I should worry about other things now!! Like the fact that I'll be forced to sign up for the tennis club...it's a good thing that Fuji guy doesn't go there..."_ (A/N ...um...the main character's dense, so forgive me! sweatdrops)

"_Yeah! I couldn't---I don't---care about a person who I barely exchanged two sentences with!!" _

But unknown to her, the fateful blind dude that Aya couldn't care less about will actually turn out to be the beginning of her very own fairytale.

* * *

So how was it for a first try? Please review!! Constructive criticism is welcomed!

smiles brightly and makes "V" for victory sign

Translations:

"**Eto"** and **"ano"** --- sort of like **"um"** and **"uh"**

"**Mou"** --- sort of like a groan of **"geez"** or **"Gawd"**

"**hiragana"** --- **Japanese ABCs**

"**kanji"** --- **Chinese characters** that the Japanese picked up when they invaded China in WWII

"**Oi" **--- roughly like a **"hey"**

"**Kaa-chan"** --- informal way of saying **"Mum"**

"**Sumimasen"** --- **"Excuse me" **

"**Un"** --- like **"yeah"**

"**Hai" **--- like **"yes"**

"blah blah blah **ne"** --- It the "ne"s at the end, it's like something sarcastic Japanese people like to put at the end of their sentences that's roughly the same as "blah blah blah **don't you think?**" or "blah blah blah **don't you agree?**" They don't expect you to answer back.

"**Ne**, blah blah blah" --- Yes, there's a difference if you use it at the beginning of a sentence. It's kind of like a **"hey" **you say when you wanna start a conversation. Like: "Hey, how's the game going?")

**HUGE TIP: **(Echizen's "Mada mada dane" is kind of the same thing, it's like a sarcastic way of saying "You've got a ways to go, don't you agree?" **NEVER USE IT IN ANOTHER SENTENCE LIKE: "YOU'RE MADA MADA DANE AT TENNIS." NO! NO! IT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!**)

"**Yoroshiku desu"** --- popular teenage/kiddyish way of saying **"best regards"**

"**Yoroshiku onegaishimasu"** --- polite formal way of saying **"best regards"**

"**Kawaii" **--- **"cute"**

**CULTURAL TIP: **Japanese people like saying "kawaii" at almost anything, especially the girls. So if you hear some Japanese girl say to another girl "You're very kawaii" or whatever, it doesn't mean they're gay, it's just like a common compliment.)

"**no"** --- **Japanese participle **

"**namae"** --- **"name"**

(so in other words, Fuji commented, "What a cute name.)

"**Sensei"** --- **"teacher"**

"**Minna"** --- **"everyone," "everybody"**

"**Kirei"** --- **"pretty," "beautiful"**

"**Iya"** --- **"No,"** or **"that's not it"**

"**Nani"** **"eh"**--- like **"what"**

"**Daijoubukai"** or **"daijoubu"** --- it's like "Are you all right?" (or "alright" I get confused between those two words)

"**Arigatou"** --- **"Thanks"**

** "Maji?" --- **like **"Are you serious??" **or **"Is this for real??" **

Well, arigatou minna!! Thanks to everyone who read this!! Please review!!


	2. Trying Tennis

Nmu...I've tried my hardest, and now here's the attempted second chapter!! Plz review remember!! (SMILES) I need tips on how to make my stories better!! THANK YOU!!!

Few translations you may wanna know if you don't:

Matte --- Wait

Ja, hajimemashita ka? --- Well then, shall we start?

Ja, mata ashita ne --- informal way of saying: Well then, until tomorrow

Chotto matte ne --- Wait a minute

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick..._

The sound of the clock slowly ticking nearly sent Aya berserk. It was her second day of school, and aside from leaving her friends, her father, and starting a new life, Aya was forced to join the girls' tennis club today, according to the enthusiastic Miyu.

Aya looked up and stared at the back of Fuji's head. His back was slightly bent over as he was focusing on the English quiz they were taking. Good news for Aya---English was one of her strong suits.

She found herself gnawing at her pencil again---she does this whenever she's nervous---and with a horrified, small "gasp," she realized that she had made a teeth mark on Fuji's lead pencil. It was only five minutes ago that...

-FLASHBACK-

"Ne, Fuji...mind if I borrow a pencil? Mines ran out of lead." Aya begged desperately before the English quiz.

"You mean 'mine'?" he smiled.

Aya was numbed by his reply. "Nm? Huh? Uh..." she stared blankly at Fuji's nose, unable to stare at him in his eyes, although they were closed. She switched to a flushed and angry face and asked rather accusingly, "What do you mean by _that?"_

"Iya, forget it," Fuji laughed in a Fuji-styled way, "korede." He handed her an extra lead pencil off his desk.

Aya took it, her expression unchanged. "Don't make fun of me because I'm Chinese, okay? I can't speak Japanese correctly."

Fuji's eyes flew open.

"Aya!" the teacher caught her talking and put a finger to his lips. "We are starting a test now. Shh."

-END FLASHBACK-

"_This guy, Fuji Syuusuke...he got me in trouble on my second day!! I usually get along with my teachers...I'm an A student!!" _Aya cringed at the flashback. _"Or at least, I **was**..."_

Aya shook her head and clenched her fists under her desk. _"I'm STILL going to be an A student, now that I know all fifty of my hiragana!!" _she smiled as she remembered the other night. "I studied until two in the morning!! My endurance has paid off!!"

Miyu poked her head from behind. "What has paid off, Aya?"

Aya nearly toppled over her desk. "M-Miyu! Did I say that out loud?"

"Uh...yeah, you kind of whispered it aloud!" she whispered back.

"Shiho! Minase! Stop talking!"

The lunch bell rang, and Aya and Miyu waited until the teacher and all the students filed out of the classroom. Aya especially kept an eye on the smiling Fuji, who was listening to Eiji babble on about some new flavor of shrimp chips that he brought for lunch.

After they were gone, Miyu burst into a fit of excitement. "Kyaaa, this will be SO fun!! You can help me get some info on Tezuka-sama today!!"

"Are you sure about this? I really, really don't want to go..." Aya trailed off.

"EH?? Why not?"

"Because! Well...I'm not so good with sports..."

"I told you, you don't have to be good to get in the team!"

"But..."

"Pleeeeaaase?" she jumped up and down.

"I've always been second to last in long distance running! I don't want to look like an idiot in front of all those people..."

Miyu stopped hopping. "That's what you were worried about?"

Aya nodded. "I've always had not-so-impressive histories with sports...and besides, I fell out of a desk trying to chea---trying to stretch my neck..."

"That was kind of funny." Miyu laughed at the memory. More than one person remembered that moment yesterday.

"See?? That's why I'm not good at _anything_."

Miyu ignored Aya's whining. "Well, you got to speak with Fuji, and that's something. Barely any of the girls in our class got to exchange an 'ohayo' with him."

"...Hey, Miyu...?"

"Yeah?"

"Does Fuji...is he...together with anybody?"

Miyu enthralled herself with a pause. Suddenly, without warning, she jumped up and down again and pointed to Aya. "YOU LIKE FUJI-KUN!!! YOU JUST ADMITTED IT!!!"

"Keep it down!!" Aya grabbed Miyu by her wrists and tried to stop her jumping.

"I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT HI---"

Aya smacked a hand on top of her mouth, afraid that her excited shouting would echo down the hall and reach everybody's ears. "Shut UP!! Everybody can hear you, you know!!!"

"So, well, since you DO like him, you'll agree to join the club, right??" she said while prying Aya's hand off.

"What?" Aya looked at her. "Why is it that if I go to the tennis club, he'll---it's not like he's in the guys' club or anything!"

Miyu stopped jumping again.

"Uh..._well_...about that...AHEM...Fuji-kun, he...he's actually..." she tried finding the right words to say while Aya slowly processed the information.

Realizing Miyu's "confession," she mouthed slowly: "...Drop. Dead."

* * *

"_I cannot believe I'm doing this. I cannot believe I'm doing this. I CANNOT BELIEVE I'M DOING THIS!!!" _

The nerve-wrecked classmate/now-a-tennis player thought that same line over and over again.

"I. Can't. Believe. I'm. Doing. This."

"Hey, Aya! Do you prefer white or pink?" Miyu ignored her chanting and held up two tennis outfits. "If I were you, I'd go with the pink one."

"When does practice start?"

Miyu's shoulder shifted and her face read: I can't believe you're still worried about that. She looked five years older when she was serious.

"Aya. Don't worry about it, okay? Today, all you have to do is return a simple underhand serve. Anybody can do it, even you. Now get dressed."

Aya walked out on the winter afternoon, dressed in her tennis uniform, which was composed with a fluttery skirt. _"These obsessive-compulsive girls...it's negative 50 degrees outside and they can still walk around with a skirt??? I really shouldn't have come..."_

"Aya, this way, this way!!" Miyu led her into a huge tennis court, parallel to the boys' courts. Nobody but this guy with glasses, who kept muttering about nutrition facts, and an old lady in pink sweats were seen on the court.

Every girl observed the boys' courts while they filed into a straight line. "Aww...they're not here yet, but they'll be here soon." Miyu reassured Aya.

But she didn't feel too reassured. _"Please don't come here soon. Please don't come here soon, PLEASE don't come here soon...!!"_

She can imagine it already: all the regulars, including Fuji, will be staring at the girls, one by one, perfectly returning a serve while Aya messed up. Fuji and the others will be so impressed with everybody but her.

"Ah! Ah! HERE THEY COME!!"

Seven tall figures and one midgety figure marched out onto the court. The midgety one looked really familiar to Aya. _"I think I've seen him before, in TV or something in America when I was on vacation last summer..."_

But her memory failed her when she suddenly saw Fuji Syuusuke walk beside him.

"FUJI-SAMA---!! LOOK THIS WAY!!"

Aya's right ear nearly busted open.

"KYAAAA!! Tezuka-sama suteki!!" Miyu and a bunch of other girls shouted to Aya's left.

From the midst of the havoc, she heard one quiet mutter of "Ryoma-kun..."

She turned to see a girl who appeared to be in the seventh grade with pigtails. "Ganbatte, Ryoma-kun..." she muttered confidently to herself while leaning against the fence.

"_Hmmm. Ryoma...Ryoma...why does that sound familiar? That's it---I've definitely seen him on TV!!" _

Suddenly, her gaze shifted from the pig-tailed girl to the smiling tensai, standing parallel from her, still smiling, facing her direction. Although Aya wasn't sure if he was looking at someone else, she fidgeted under his gaze. They were meters away, but she still felt uncomfortable...

"Aya?"

"Eh?" she found herself facing Miyu.

"Aya. You're next!!"

It was true---she was the last one (besides the pigtailed girl) in line. It was finally her turn. Her legs quivered.

Miyu ran up to her and gave her a little push. "Get up there! You can do it!!"

"_No, I can't!!" _she had been so scared about this moment! She clumsily stepped onto one side of the court, facing the captain of the girls' tennis team. Miyu gave her a racket and patted her shoulder. "Just remember! Your love is watching you!!" she said before running to the sidelines.

"_That helps a lot, Miyu!!" _

"Here. All you have to do is hit the ball back to this side of the court, and I'll keep returning them to you, and you keep returning them to me. Get the idea?" the captain's lone voice in the wilderness said.

Aya stood there, knees buckled, hair messy. She ran a quivering finger through her hair, trying to straighten the knots without success. Everyone stared at her---all the girls, even the pigtailed girl, and the guys, for they were wondering why the girls suddenly got unusually quiet. Fuji opened his eyes with interest when he saw that Aya had joined the team.

"HUH?? Fuji, did you know that Aya joined the tennis club??" Eiji said to Fuji on the other court.

"Iie, I had no idea."

"You two know her?" Momo cut in. "She looks like she's about to die out there, that girl..."

"Her name's Aya. She just started here in our class, nya! HEY---" Eiji suddenly got excited at a discovery "---Aya. Nya. THEY RHYME!!!"

"Eiji-sempai!!" Momo nudged the guy who was supposedly older than he was. "So, this girl just got here and she plays tennis?"

"Nanjiro hoi hoi!" Eiji nodded.

"...She's Chinese."

"What?" Everyone looked at Fuji. His eyes were open. Leave it to Fuji to jump in with the facts when everyone's wondering about something. (A/N: This is very true!)

"She told me in class today," he explained.

"Waaahhh...she's probably the first Chinese person to be in our class!" Eiji wondered. "I had no idea when I first met her!"

"Saa, tanoshii ne." Fuji mused. His face was back to the smiling mode.

Eiji looked at Fuji. "I knew you were going to say that, Fuji!"

Back on the other side of the campus, Aya did not feel amused at all. She gripped onto her racket harder, but she did not change her posture.

"Ja, hajimemashita ka?"

The captain threw the ball into the air and served underhand with a light _pong._

The ball came straight at Aya.

"There you go, Aya, your chance!!" Miyu shouted. Confidence was one of her powerful strengths. "That's a easy return!!"

The ball seemed to move in slow motion for Aya. She didn't move a muscle and just stared at her hands. She could feel her body vibrate with every beat of her heart.

Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.

She has never returned a tennis ball in her life, even if it was a really easy one. She gripped onto her racket harder. She inhaled sharply, raised her arms, put her history with sports behind her, took her aim---and turned her head around.

Fuji was standing there, still smiling, his arms folded, one finger on his chin---

"_**HE'S ANALYZING ME?!?!" **_

_**BANG!!**_

"A-Aya!!"

"Oh my gosh!"

"What happened??"

"Meh?"

Aya muttered. She got up to see that she was surrounded by a circle of girls.

"Did I hit it?" she tried, staggering.

"Well, yeah, and I---" Miyu rubbed her eyes, "---and I could've sworn I saw it catch on _fire_ or something---"

Aya's eyes widened.

"I don't think we'll be getting that ball back, where ever it is!! It's probably at the other side of Earth or something!!"

"WHAT?" Aya said flatly. "Sure it is."

"No, really, it---YOUR RACKET'S ON FIRE!!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" all the girls backed off.

The racket was---smoking? "_EH? How did **that** happen??"_

After the smoke died off, Miyu ran up to Aya. "You looked real scary when you were hitting it, too! Like---like---like you were angry about something..."

"...I **_was..._**?"

Back at the boys' court, the tall boy named Inui scratched a few things onto his trusty notebook. "Amazing...for a girl...that is a LOT of willpower..."

"Wha-Wha-Wha!! I thought---!! But she---!! NYA?!?!"

Oishi was watching her also. He was speechless.

"Hyaaa...so she's that good, eh?" Momo said.

"SHE WAS ON FIRE, BABY!!" Crazy Kawamura commented rather loudly. None of the regulars have seen a personality shift that was so strong from anybody, except for Taka.

"But---but she fell out of a desk stretching her neck!!" Eiji couldn't help but remember.

"Maji??"

Fuji's reaction was altered for only a nanosecond---that is, when she caught him "studying" her and the racket supposedly "caught on fire."

"Okay, everyone---back to practice!!" Tezuka yelled. He himself has recovered from the shock of seeing something so supernatural.

"What did you think of that, Fuji? Ne, Fuji..." Eiji tugged at Fuji's sleeve.

But he didn't budge. His eyes were open still, and he although he was smiling, his expression seemed different in a way. He started to walk away from the other regulars.

"Where are you going, Fuji??" Eiji called after him.

Fuji just said, "Chotto matte ne."

"Taku...what's up with _him?"_ Eiji cocked his head to one side.

"Okay, everyone, good practice today!" the captain clasped her hands and all the girls filed out of the court. Practice was over, but Miyu and Aya remained there, standing, still trying to figure out what happened.

"That was...that was incredible," was all Miyu could manage.

"Yeah...I...guess..." was Aya's trademark answer.

"Well, I guess I'll go...I have to catch the bus soon. You should leave soon, too...it's almost closing time."

"Okay. Ja matta ne."

"Bye!"

Aya was the only one left in the court. She stared at her hand and flexed her fingers. _"Just **what** happened? I raised my arms, and the next thing you know, I..." _

"Daijoubukai?"

It was the same line again, but Aya was still surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check on you." He still smiled.

There was a doubtful pause.

"...You saw me see you, right?" Aya said.

He smiled as if that was his answer.

"I didn't know you played tennis," he told her.

"I don't."

"Why'd you join the team?"

"...Why should I tell you?"

"You've never played tennis." He said matter-of-factly.

Aya felt herself heat up with more anger. "First you correct me in my grammar, and now this?? What's with you??"

"Here." He walked closer towards her.

"What?"

He enveloped her hand in his touch.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" Aya twitched violently and blushed like crazy, but she didn't move.

"This is how you hold the racket."

"!!!" she felt stupid when she saw that he was changing her hand's position to grip the racket.

"Does that feel better?"

"...I guess so..."

Aya didn't look up, she just stared at the contact of their hands. Something inside her felt so...so...

"Ja...mata ashita ne."

He let go and started to walk away.

"Ma-_**MATTE!!!"**_

Fuji turned around to see that Aya was holding out a lead pencil, her fingers and arm stiff. "...  
You...forgot...uhm..."

"Arigatou..." he took it from her and smiled. Of course, he was smiling the whole time, but the atmosphere of his expression changed.

"Bye!!" Aya suddenly took off, grabbing her schoolbag, rushing off into the streets with her tennis uniform still on.

After she was out of sight from Fuji, she rounded a corner and stopped, gasping.

If only she stayed a little longer, Fuji would have been able to see that Aya was smiling. She stared at her hands and blushed. "Fuji Syuusuke...you're such a dork..." she giggled, her eyes still closed with happiness.

"Ne, ne, Fuji!! Where did you run off to?? Tezuka made us run 20 laps because we were watching the girls practice!!" Eiji jumped and ran to Fuji as soon as he saw Fuji walking back towards them.

"That wasn't fair, Fuji-sempai!!" Momo joined in.

"What's that, Fuji?" Eiji suddenly noticed that Fuji was looking at something in his hands. "A pencil?"

All Fuji said to reply was, "...She has crooked back teeth..."


	3. Dirt and Raindrops

**READ BEFORE CHAPTER: **

If you people haven't seen the Fudomine episodes, you really should! May contain spoilers!

**Translations:**

"Ni jei ge ben dan!" --- Chinese for "You idiot!"

"Ni zai gan shema??" --- Chinese for "What are you doing??"

"Wei?" --- Chinese. It's like saying "Moshi moshi?" or "Hello?" when picking up a phone.

"Baka" --- everyone has to know this one. It's "fool" in Japanese.

"Ita---!" or "Itai!" --- Japanese. Something similar to "ow!"

"Demo---" --- Japanese for "But---"

"jidouhanbaiki" --- Japanese for "vending machine"

O yea major thanks to **aniime.crazii.hOi.hOi**and **darkrisingphoenix** for pointing out stuff that needs to be added that I decided to leave out. O, and before anyone corrects me about anything that I left out again, I just wanted to say that Japanese people do go to school on Saturdays, but only for half of the day. But I decided that that should be left out to make the plot flow better. And I know that I'm a grammar freak, but I have used this double preposition: "off of" in some parts. I'm telling you this so I don't sound like I'm stupid and maybe some smart person would mistake the double preposition for something. Eheh...

Anyways...enjoy nyaaa!!

**Chapter3**

"_...Ma-**MATTE!!!**...You...forgot...uhm..." _

"_Arigatou..."_

"_Iie, don't mention it."_

"_Aya?" _

"_Hm?" _

"_There's something I've been wanting to tell you...I---"_

"**WAKE UP, DAMN IT!!!" **

"**EGH?!?!" **

Aoi grabbed a hold of Aya's hair."Ni jei ge ben dan!!!"

"What are you doing?!" Aya jumped out of her bed and tugged at Aoi's hair.

"Do you realize what time it is?? You're gonna be late for school!!"

"Huh?? WHAT?? No way!!" Aya looked at her watch: it was 8:30!! She pushed Aoi off the bed violently and then stepped on her when she dashed out of her room, hair messy and still wearing pajamas.

She passed by her mother in the hallway. "Ni zai gan shema??" she shouted after Aya.

"Can't talk now, Ma, I'm gonna be _late!!"_

"What? You're gonna be late for school on a _Saturday?"_

Aya screeched to a stop. "WHAT?" she dashed back to her room at full speed.

"You snitch!!!" she kicked her sister, who was still lying on the ground, trying to recover herself from being stepped on.

"STOP FIGHTING!! Aya, there's a phone call for you!!" her mom gestured, covering the receiver of the phone so that the other line couldn't hear the havoc.

"Eh?" Aya let go of Aoi's hair and grabbed her cell phone, which she had abandoned downstairs.

"Wei?"

"Start speaking in Japanese, Aya." It was Miyu.

"Oh. Right. Forgot...me and Aoi was having a fight and everyone was shouting in different languages. So...what's up?"

"Look out your window!"

"What do you mean?" she was confused at her friend's request, but she did anyway. Right under her view, a girl who looked like she had stepped out the pages of Vogue waved at her. Her two huge bangs cast a shadow on her eyes, but Aya could tell---"MIYU??"

Miyu had hung up already. Aya opened the window and repeated, "Is that you, Miyu?? How did you get my address??"

"No need to explain much---got them from the teachers' office. Now, come on, we're about to watch our regulars play in the district preliminaries!! Get dressed!!"

------------------------------------

The bus pulled to a stop and the two girls hopped out.

"_I can't believe that I'll actually waste my Saturday watching some tennis game instead of sleeping in..."_ Aya thought of the idea as something that she wouldn't enjoy, but she was actually feeling pretty excited. She brushed imaginary wrinkles off of her cami.

"I can't wait to watch Tezuka-sama play...he rarely ever does anything at practice!! Hey..." Miyu looked around the place where the matches are supposedly held at. "Where is Seigaku playing in anyway?"

"It-It's kind of crowded..." Aya looked around at all the kids who were all wearing different sports uniforms. "It looks like there are all sorts of schools gathered here today..."

"Don't worry! Seigaku will beat every single one of those sorry schools for sure!!" Miyu's eyes flared.

Then there came a giggle---an innocent, girly giggle. The two girls instinctively turned around.

There stood a girl about five feet in height, with short-cut brunette hair and pink burettes. She had one bag slanted over her shoulder, wrinkling her purple jacket that went with her short, white skirt. She had two fingers covering her mouth, which did absolutely nothing to hide her giggles. Aya could see that this girl was really pretty---all the guys who stood behind her was staring at her, probably wondering how anyone on earth could have such a cute laugh.

The mysterious girl noticed Miyu's expression and stopped giggling, but she was still smiling confidently. "Gomen...but I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Miyu's brows knitted. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying that victory wouldn't be so easy. Especially..." she winked, "if you're going against Fudomine."

Miyu said rather aggressively, "'Fudomine'? I haven't heard of them."

"Well, just don't underestimate them because they aren't seeded!"

The two dumbfounded girls stared at the girl, who had now turned away and started walking away. The guys who were admiring her from afar moved a few steps back to let her pass. As soon as she was lost in the crowd, Miyu muttered some Japanese words---obscene words, Aya could guess---in a tone that made her friend beside her shiver a bit.

Whatever thoughts they had about the brunette were erased away as soon as they heard the distant echoes of: "Seigaku---! Fight on! Fight on!"

"This way!!" Miyu yelled in her regular voice. They put the encounter in the back of their minds and dashed to the direction of the chant.

"...Ah! TEZUKA-SAMA!!! THERE HE IS!!" Miyu added a squeal for a finishing touch as she spotted the much-too-calm buchou with his arms folded across his chest, sitting on a bench, studying the current game. "He looks so adorable when he's focusing on---"

She barely got to finish what she was saying when she realized _who_ Tezuka was looking at. Fuji and Taka were in the middle of the court, Taka's face in excruciating pain, his racket abandoned on the ground. Fuji had his eyes open, and his hand was snatched on Taka's wrist. Aya was left breathless.

Her first thought was:

"_**WHY IS HE HURTING TAKA?!?!" **_

Fuji's eyes glinted seriously as he started to say, "Umpire---"

"_BAKA!!_ STOP, _STOP!!!"_

All heads turned to stare at the brunette/redhead who was crazy enough to dash up to the court. Fuji was especially surprised.

Although she doesn't have a lot of upper body strength, Aya pried Fuji's hand off of Taka's wrist without much difficulty, mainly because Fuji was too surprised to keep his grip. She looked at Fuji square in the eye for the first time since they've met.

"What's wrong with you?! I know I've asked that before, but how could you do something like _this?!"_ she held up Takashi's swelled wrist so that Fuji could see it clearly.

"Mi-Minase-san...?" a sweatdrop ran down a side of Fuji's cheek as he closed his eyes again and smiled meekly as if questioning her sanity.

"What do you mean, 'Minase-san'?! That's ALL you have to say??" she swung Taka's wrist up and down, jabbing it in front of Fuji's face every few milliseconds. "You see this? Do you SEE THIS??" she ignored Taka's cries of pain.

"ITA---!! Ano..." Taka tried, his weak side of his personality taking advantage of him.

"What??" Aya yelled, too angry to notice that she's yelling at other innocent people.

"I-I got this injury myself!" Taka blurted, "F-Fuji had _nothing_ to do with anything."

"Demo---" Aya hesitated. "De-demo---" the word hung from her mouth, although she didn't say any further.

"U-umpire?" the still-sweatdropping tensai resumed his previous thought.

"Y-yes?" the also-sweatdropping umpire asked.

"We...forfeit the match."

"But Fuji!!" Taka argued, "I can still play!!"

"Come on," Momo rushed to Takashi from the sidelines, "I'll take you to the hospital. The sooner we go, the faster we can come back."

Taka sighed. "A-all right..."

"...But..." Aya watched the entire scene, feeling stupid.

"Eto...Minase-san?" Fuji walked up to her as she was still blankly staring at Taka and Momo dash away. "Sorry for the misunderstanding...ano...do you feel fine?"

"Demo...you were...and you were like...and his wrist was..." she stammered.

"...Is that a 'no'?"

"Well, answer this!!" she turned sharply, "How did his wrist get so messed up??"

"One of our opponents from Fudomine hit a powerful spin called a Hadokyuu. I couldn't counter it, so Taka-san had to return it."

"Wait," Aya suddenly remembered the mysterious girl. "Did you just say Fudomine?"

"Yes. They're sitting across from us right now."

Sure enough, Aya could see that a bunch of guys dressed in black were sitting in a bench a few meters from them. A bunch of tough, determined-looking guys...but something else caught her eye---a flash of radiance that stood out from all the dark color. The girl in the purple and white uniform...she stood in the smiling stance that Aya recognized so well.

The umpire called, "Seishun forfeits. Fudomine leads 1-0."

------------------------------------

The rain started to pour; the sky was pure grey. The Golden Pair had won the game pretty easily, and the third game was Kaidoh vs. Kamio, Aya remembered. She had taken a look at Ryuzaki sensei's paper thing, and she felt a tiny bit of regret about missing Fuji's game.

Aya sighed and uncrossed her legs. She looked over at the other side of the bench. Fuji sat there, unmoved, smiling, as always. _"Maybe I should go up and talk to him. But what do I say?"_

It was killing her, to just sit there while the precious Saturday was ticking away, the Seishun heartthrob sitting just a few meters from her. She blinked several times and tried to focus on the game while the Snake and the Speed Ace walked up to the field---but couldn't. How come it's not as exciting as she thought it would be? _"I expected too much. But from what? What more can you do at a tennis tournament than watch tennis guys play tennis?? Maybe I thought it would be..." _Aya glanced over to Fuji again, _"...a little more...unrealistic?"_

(Miyu, on the other hand, is sittin right next to Tezuka and is now telling him about how exciting tennis is to her, only to be ignored by him.)

She finally decided what she was going to do to let Fuji know that she still existed. "Ne, Miyu? I'ma go get something to drink, okay?" she stood up and walked next to Miyu. "Want anything?"

Her real intention was that hopefully, Fuji might've heard her from where he was sitting so that he could at least glance over at her for a second to let Aya know that he knows she's still here.

But as Aya watched him from the corner of his eye, he was still unmoved, still smiling, and he didn't move an inch or glance over at her for one nanosecond. Eiji, on the other hand, asked if she could get him and "Ochibi" two Pontas.

She said, "Okay," politely in her flawless English as she waited for anymore requests---from one person in particular. Five seconds passed, no more requests came. She repeated, "Okay, then...I guess I'll go _now."_ Five more seconds passed, and by this time, all the regulars including Fuji was too shocked at seeing the first appearance of Boomerang Snake to hear her.

Aya clasped her hands, feigned a smile, and mumbled so that only she could hear, "Since no one acknowledges my generosity, I'll go now." She made a beeline for nowhere.

She dashed in a direction, passing a sports writer with short brown hair who yelled after her, "Where are you going?? The jidouhanbaiki is _that_ way---"

Aya could only hear the splashing of rain puddles under her feet and the pounding of her heart in her ears. A safe distance from the others, she slowed down and put her hands to her knees. She raised her head after panting a few breaths and wondered, _"Why do I feel angry anyway?!" _Her cheeks were flushed and it made her blush even more to think about blushing. _"It-It's just humid outside, that's all."_

She looked around and spotted a tree. With a quick sigh followed by a moment's hesitation, she sat on the dry soil and breathed.

The rain danced around her senses. She hated the rain---it enchanted you, fascinated you. Aya was pulled subconsciously to the realm of her previous life in peaceful China.

"_Dad?"_

"_Hmm?" _

"_What's wrong with being clumsy?" _

"_Nothing at all---wait. What are you saying?" _

_She had shrugged. "I don't know. I destroyed my teacher's garden in kindergarten today. My friends thought it was funny."_

"_Don't worry. Even the strangest people get boyfriends." _

_That had to be the last thing on her mind. But it was an interesting thought. _

The flashback ended and she slowly opened her eyes. She came back to the sound of drizzling rain. The sky was a huge, empty space of gray, reflecting the color off of her eyes. She sat there, dazed, for a while, then thought, _"I should probably get back..." _

Meanwhile, back on the other side of the tennis garden, Eiji elbowed his friend. "Fujiko, Aya's been gone for a long time. I think I'll go search for her!"

"Matte, Eiji. I think I'll go look for her."

Eiji shrugged. "OK," he replied in his heavy Japanese accent, "but I wonder what she's doing in this weather, nya..."

------------------------------------

She trailed on, slowly, seeming to not mind that the raindrops were making her hair flat. "Aha ha...actually, being clumsy has its advantages!" she laughed. "I could say that I was lost and couldn't find the vending machine..._if_ anyone even noticed that I was gone, that is!"

In the middle of her laughter, a huge gust of wind nearly knocked her off her heels. She gave a sharp, inaudible scream and fell back onto the pavement with an elegant "Oof!"

She felt her eyes watering. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..." she licked her scraped arm and tried getting up. "Why is it that **_I'_**m always the one falling?! What have **_I_** done to possibly offend _anyone---"_

With her middle finger still jabbed in the air, Aya noticed something. Her jacket, which was just right around her waist, was gone.

She recalled the gust of wind and turned to her right sharply. She spotted the gray (which was supposed to be white to begin with) jacket, flipping in the wind, hanging off from a tree branch that was several meters in mid-air.

"That's _it."_ Aya let out a string of beautiful curse words in English. With a side of her cheek still bleeding, she licked part of the blood off with her tongue and gathered her wet hair into a ponytail. She gnawed off the tips of her perfectly manicured nails---they would be bothersome. She kicked the "Please don't walk on the grass" sign and stomped on the fragile flowers, then grabbed the lowest branch of the tree and hauled her body off the ground.

"It's always me, isn't it? I'm supposed to be---" she grabbed a hold of another branch, "---the one who suffers for others' mistakes!! What the hell could that mean, you ask?! I don't know, dammit, you go ask your creator when you die yourself!!"

Her face was now drenched in rain and the tiniest bit of blood from the wound on her cheek, which still stung. On the bright side, no one would care if a crazed, macho lunatic was going against nature's laws and climbing to her death, would they?

"Almost---" she reached out for another branch, gasping, "---there---"

"...Minase-san...?"

The other being on the ground stared up at Aya, who had now stopped in mid-air to stare at him. He moved his umbrella slightly so he could see her face clearer.

"What does it look like I'm doing?? It's definitely not a fancy nature hike I'm taking, is it??" she had to shout so she could let herself be heard over the noise of the pouring rain.

_Zaaa...zaaa..._

Aya continued to climb, "Don't mind me...this will only take a while! You should go back to watching your game!!"

"The game's on hold for a few minutes because of the rain," he said.

"Nani??" yelled Aya, trying to hear him over the rain and the distance between them. "What did you just say??"

"...The game's on hold."

"I still can't hear you!!"

Fuji took a few steps toward the tree. He repeated, "The game's currently on hold."

"Could you say that again? I didn't bring any rock climbing equipment with me, you know!!" she laughed. She did, in fact, hear what he had to say, but she was just joking around now. To her surprise, the tensai started to say something again. Maybe he couldn't tell she was just joking?

"...Eto...how should I say this."

"No, no! I already know that the game's on hold---"

"Iya, it's not that---it's...there's a caterpillar on your arm---"

"**_NANI?!?!_** KYAAAAA---"

Aya started to lose balance, screaming scream after scream.

"Ano---de-demo---chotto---" Fuji tried between screams, sweatdropping and raising his shoulders at each scream.

"**WHOA!!!" **

Aya fell backwards with a final cry. "Minase-san---!" Fuji threw his umbrella on the ground and dashed forward, his whole body slipping on the mud just so he could make it in time---

**_SCCRIIIISH---!!_**

"Haah...haah...**_GEH!!"_** Aya tumbled off the figure that she was sitting on. "I---Fuji---are you alright??"

The tensai raised a hand to his hair and laughed. He sat up and looked at the face of Aya (who was now shocked and angry about the fact that he laughed about her clumsiness) and said, "I'm okay."

"Hmph." Aya folded her arms and could think of nothing more to do but make an angry face at him.

"Let's go back." Fuji got up and wiped some mud off his shirt. Aya was about to get up, too, until she noticed a red spot on his arm.

"Fuji!!" she grabbed his arm. "You're hurt!!"

"Hm? Ah, that's nothing."

"No, it's definitely _something. _I'm so sorry! Did you get this when you were trying to catch me?"

"I really think we just ought to---"

"Dude, I'm trying to say 'I'm _SORRY'!!"_ she jerked him back onto his knees with a _splat_.

Fuji blinked. "Eto...do you feel fine?"

Aya made a face and scoffed. "That's all I get for admitting that I was wrong?? Don't be a jerk!!"

He suddenly chuckled and sat cross-legged. "You're right. And..." he opened his eyes and looked at her cheek. "...you seem to have a few cuts yourself."

"Huh? This? Oh, that's nothing." Aya spotted her jacket, lying a few feet away from them. She reached for it. "This will have to do, although it's so dirty." She ripped the jacket into pieces.

"What?"

She placed his arm on her lap and started wrapping it with the pieces of ripped cloth. She just focused on his arm and didn't look up at him. "It's my fault, so I'm going to fix it, whether you like it or not!" she added aggressively.

"...No. I don't mind."

The reply made Aya blush slightly. She did her work in silence.

The rain ceased, and the gray clouds started parting. The sky revealed rays and rays of sunlight that soon flooded the entire tennis garden. The birds started chirping and everything seemed back to normal.

"...There," Aya tied the final piece of cloth and smiled. She couldn't tell what he was doing because she couldn't look at him like before, and the silence was bothering her. "Y-you know..." she looked up at the new sky. "I hate the rain, but I really like the sky after it stops raining. Isn't that weird?" she laughed nervously. "Aha...you probably think I'm weird for saying this, but..."

She could tell that he was smiling also when he told her, "...That's what I like about you."

He got the better of her once again. She overreacted, "WHAT??!" and looked up.

Fuji had already gotten up. "Now...should we head back?" he held out his hand.

The sun illuminated his smiling face. Seeing his face made Aya want to smile too, for some reason. "Okay." She took his hand and they walked back to the courts together.

The girl named An was leaning against a tree, listening to their conversation. She gripped her hand tighter and whispered, "What are you thinking, Fuji...?"

Something was going to go wrong.

------------------------------------

"Syuusuke!" his sister ran up to him as soon as she saw him by the doorway. "How did the game go? Did Seishun win? It must've been a good game if you're all covered in so much _mud_ and _dirt_..." she eyed him up and down, "And---what is that _thing_ on your arm??"

She pointed at Fuji's wrapped arm. He said, "Ah, this? There was an accident."

"I can see that, but...whoever patched this up for you did a _horrible_ job! Do you want me to fix it for you?"

"It's alright, Ne-san." Fuji bent down to take his shoes. "I wouldn't mind leaving it like this."

"Oh?" she stared in confusion at the light-haired boy walk up the stairs.

Fuji closed the door after him and leaned against it for a while. He studied his arm and brushed the lightly damp cloth against his cheek. He smiled.

"...Crooked back teeth, no sense of balance..."


	4. The Fuckwit and His Kanojo?

36Hi again!! Yea, I'll explain why I'm a FujiAn fan later...yea, there were some shock with the last chapter. May contain spoilers!!

**Translations:**

"Are?" --- Japanese. Actually pronounced as "a-le." Means "what's this?"

"Urusei" --- Japanese. Pronounced "oo-lu-sei." Means "You're too loud"

"kanojo" --- Japanese. It's like "girlfriend"

Well, on with the story!!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

It was a Monday---the first week after the district preliminaries. The wind blew lightly, and the entire Seigaku courtyard was covered with a sheet of white. Students roam around the halls before class can begin. Back in the tennis courts, the boys' morning practice was typical---except for one small problem.

"FU-JI-KO!!" Eiji pounded on Fuji's shoulder repeatedly, just as a like a whiny little kid would do to their parents' arm if they wanted more candy. "You didn't explain it clearly!!"

Fuji stopped swinging on a tennis ball and sweatdropped while (must I say this?) smiling. He lightly pushed Eiji away. "Eiji...I told you, there's nothing to explain."

Eiji ignored this and pressed, "Why did you come back all muddy and wet?? Why was Aya all muddy and wet??"

"It was raining."

"But-that-doesn't-explain-ANYTHING!!"

"They probably had a nice time together," Momo stopped swinging also and tapped his racket on his shoulder. He sneered, "Eh, Fuji-senpai?"

Fuji gave him one of those sad-eyebrowed-yet-still-smiling-and-sweatdropping looks.

"Are?" Momo stretched his neck further and quirked an eyebrow sinisterly. He accused, "Nani, nani? What's this? What's with this guilty facial expression??" His tennis racket tapped his shoulder faster by the nanosecond.

"Urusei," came a dark voice a few meters away from Momo, saving Fuji any more embarrassment.

"Mamushi!!" Momo yelled back to the figure, "Stop complaining!!"

"Senpai-tachi..." Ryoma walked past them while calmly sipping grape Ponta. "You're **both** too loud."

"Oi, Echizen!! What do you mean by _THAT??" _

"_Fssshhhh."_

"Demo minna!!" Eiji shouted, trying to keep them down. "I'm trying to tell Fujiko-chan that everyone have their moments..."

Kaidoh mumbled, "'Moments'?"

"You know!" Eiji's facial expression was like that of a cat's. "When a guy starts to feel like they need a kanojo in their life..." (A/N: this conversation between Eiji and Kaidoh actually took place in one of the later episodes.)

Kaidoh blushed and turned away, resuming his morning practice.

"But you know, don't you, Fujiko?" Eiji smacked Fuji on his shoulder and leaned closer to him.

"No, Eiji, what do I know?" Fuji asked just to please Eiji.

"That she's the perfect kanojo." Eiji whispered rather loudly, his breath visible in the chilly air.

An on-looking Inui pushed his glassed up the bridge of his nose. "Oh?" he said to himself thoughtfully at the sound of Eiji's comment. He scanned Fuji's face and started to scribble in his trusty notebook...

-----------------------------------------

"Uh, Miyu?"

The morning was blisteringly cold, and the Japanese schools forced all the girls to wear skirts in any weather. Aya wrapped her jacket tighter and walked down the hallways, followed by Miyu.

"Hm?"

"I was just wondering...if a guy comes looking for you, and I don't mean just ANY guy, but this one certain guy comes looking for you if he didn't have to, and out of like, let's just suppose nine guys, this CERTAIN guy comes to find you out of the nine guys, and he looks for you in the rain despite himself, and---actually, in the wind AND rain AND dirt..."

"Get on with it, woman!"

Aya paused and looked around. She hadn't told Miyu about her tree incident with Fuji the other day. All the regulars had looked at Aya and Fuji strangely when they saw the two of them coming back all patched up, but Miyu was too busy telling Tezuka about her pet Tama-kun.

After making sure that absolutely no one was around, Aya continued, "...So if this guy, out of all the other guys, comes looking for you when you're lost although he doesn't have to..." she paused. "Does that mean anything?"

"Well...I'm pretty sure that this 'certain guy' was worried about you."

"You think?" Aya asked, more to herself than to Miyu.

"Why?" Miyu gave Aya a look and stopped walking.

Aya, on the other hand, did not stop and continued her way. "I don't know. I think I saw it in a movie, but I didn't get to finish the ending. I was just hoping that the main character and her crush got a happy ending after all!"

"...You're so _weird."_

Miyu dashed up to Aya and they could say no more for they reached 3-D. Aya straightened her bangs before walking in the room, followed by Miyu.

"Ohayo, Aya-chaaan!!"

She didn't even get to step 3 steps inside before hearing the familiar voice. She turned around to greet Eiji.

"Ohayo," she smiled. Eiji inched closer to her and somehow Aya felt like he wanted something from her.

"Ne, ne...remember Saturday?"

"Sure," she felt uncomfortable under his gaze. _"Saturday...how can I not?"_ she thought, and a sudden flashback of Fuji on his back, his hand to his hair, laughing inaudibly, one knee in the air...that image reentered her mind and her heart quickened its pace. Her eyes darted to Fuji's direction---some girls from class C were standing around him, asking him questions about him. Fuji was, as usual, being polite and smiling at them, avoiding their questions.

"Fuji-kun, what do you like to do when you're not playing tennis?"

"I thought the biology experiment went really well, don't you think, Fuji-kun?"

"I really enjoy biology---I'm a vegetarian! Don't you just love our planet, Fuji-kun?"

Aya felt slightly jealous for a second, but she didn't show it. "Saturday, sure...why do you ask, Eiji-kun?"

"Well---"

Before Eiji could ask anymore, the teacher came in and told everyone to get in a desk. The girls from class C scattered, and one girl stuck her tongue out at the teacher when his back was turned. Aya watched them leave and sat in her desk.

She wanted to say something to Fuji but couldn't, for the teacher started speaking.

"Now, I know that you are all very excited about the upcoming winter break..."

A series of cheers went through the class. The teacher raised a hand and they stopped.

"_However,"_ he resumed, "due to circumstances...I have to announce that we have to cut a week out from your winter break---"

Everyone exclaimed in shock.

"---For a class trip to Yamanashiken---this was all the principal's idea, so all I can say is: cancel your plans. We'll stay at a cottage for approximately 4 days."

"_Class trip?"_ Aya looked at the back of Fuji's head. She bit her thumb. _"I don't know whether I should be excited or horrified!" _

"Actually, it's not exactly a class trip. Everyone in the ninth grade will go."

An image of the girls from class C entered her mind. Winter break is like...what? On Thursday? Not counting today, that's only 3 days away! _"Transferring during the middle of the year was a really bad mistake..."_

She really, really wanted to say something to him. Maybe a simple "Doesn't our teacher talk funny?" or "I had things planned for the break, too!" or "Were you going to do anything over the break?"

But she couldn't. So she said nothing as the teacher changed the subject and started drabbling about Japanese history...

Tuesday and Wednesday passed like this. In the morning, the C girls were always around him. During lunch, Fuji wavered off to the regulars. After school, before Aya could say anything, as soon as the bell rang Eiji would drag Fuji outside, not wanting to face the wrath of Tezuka if they arrived late. It was strange...even _awkward..._

Finally Thursday came. Aya locked herself in her room and started packing some stuff that she would need, mostly cosmetics. She has even packed her laptop. She grabbed a hair straightener and was about to stuff it in her bag, then paused to take a look outside her window.

"_Wow...there's snow everywhere nowadays..."_ As far as she was concerned, snow was just as bad as rain.

"_It's a bad thing that Miyu had to catch a cold in the last minute...who will I talk to during the trip? Well, there's always the girls in my homeroom, but they don't know the things that Miyu knows about me... And then there's the regulars...but we don't talk much...stupid principal. _

"_There's only one person who actually knows me well..." _

Syuusuke Fuji knew all about her, her weird actions and her love of clear skies. He's witnessed it all, only him.

"_But we haven't talked a single word since the tree incident..."_ But then it struck her.

"_Maybe...maybe Fuji thinks that I'm a freak and doesn't want to talk to me anymore?? Is that it?? Is that why we've been so awkward lately?! Come to think of it, he said 'That's what I like about you'...so he was MESSING with me?! He-he was trying to make me fritz and hyperventilate?? And plus, on Friday he was ANALYZING my clumsiness when I hit that ball...and he was SMILING, too...oh my God, so he's been PLAYING 'friends' with me all this time...?!?!" _

Self-confession is the act of facing the truth and spilling out the lies. Self-destruction is the situation this girl's in.

-----------------------------------------

(A/N: I know, I know, you normally wouldn't ride a PLANE for a class trip, you'd take a bus or a subway, right? But I like the atmosphere of a plane better. And I know an entire planeload of ninth graders wouldn't be allowed to sleep overnight in the plane, but to hell with that!! This is what makes it interesting!! Ok, I will take some space here and explain why you should support FujiAn.

Fuji had opened his eyes and looked at An in the date episode because he was surprised in a good way with her.

Eiji had agreed that she was cute.

An's one of those can-do energetic type of girl, one who's mysterious and can get any guy if she wanted to, like Momo and Kamio.

She's the only one in the PoT anime who's actually old enough to be with Fuji---she's in 8th grade.

I know An's in 8th grade, but I'm making her a 9th grader in this fic! If you have any comments about this couple, please leave a comment and I'm sure I can tackle it!! Anyway, on with the story!!)

"Fuji-kun, would you like to see some pictures of me by the beach last summer?"

"No, he's looking at MY pictures now!! So Fuji-sama, don't you think I looked good in my bathing suit? Which one do you think I look better in, the one-piece or the two-piece?"

"But Fuji-kun, you were just about to answer my question about what type of Ponta you like to drink after your matches..."

"And don't forget to sign my yearbook!! You never got around to it last year!!"

"_Don't look their way, Aya, keep your head..." _She licked the tip of her index finger and flipped the page of the book she was reading: Who Needs Men. She couldn't find the concentration to read, since basically all the girls were squealing, so she put the book down and searched for something else to do. She opened her purse.

She dug through her other mini reads, "'Women Who Love Men Are Mad'...hmm...'The Joys of Being Single'...'Spending Nights Alone As a Virgin'...WHOA!!"

Someone tapped her shoulder and she immediately closed her bag. One of the regulars had walked up the plane's aisle and had taken the seat beside her.

"Uh..." she tried remembering his name. "...Mr...Inus."

His glasses shone. "Inui."

"Right!" she clasped her hands and smiled in a so-how's-life-been-treating-you kind of way. "Mr. _Inui_. Soooo..."

He uncapped a pen that was in his breast pocket and opened the notebook in his hands. He wasn't smiling. He said flatly, "What did you learn from Fuji?"

"...Eh?"

"Saturday. You were with him." He shoved his glasses closer to his eyes. "What signs did he show you?"

Aya twitched. She tried looking at him in the eye, but they weren't visible from his thick glasses. "What are you trying to say, Inui-san?"

"I wasn't there with him so I couldn't receive any data."

"_So we have a stalker." _

She said instead, "'Data'?"

"They are necessary in certain ways." He got up from his seat since Aya seemed to have no idea what he was talking about. "Ja."

As soon as he walked away, she shook the creepy feeling from her skin. "Weird guy..." she looked at the empty seat beside her. _"I sit all the way in aisle 30, and Fuji's all the way in the back with the C girls...this is perfect. All I have to do is ignore him on the ENTIRE trip, and the rest of the school year afterwards..." _

She stared out from her window again. No clouds whatsoever, the sky was blue, the sunlight flooded the entire plane. There were noises all around her, the squealing of the girls, the voices and laughter of students, the clanking of cups that were filled with coffee. She closed the blinds and stared at the empty seat beside her and sighed again. "_I wonder who was supposed to sit next to me..." _

"Whoa! Take a look at that chick over there..."

Aya heard the guy sitting behind her whisper to another guy who was sitting beside him. _"Meh?" _

"I've seen her somewhere...isn't she the Tachibana girl from Fudomine?"

"_Wha? Fudomine? Tachibana girl?" _She turned around and followed the guys' gaze._ "Who are they talking a--- _

"_**THE GIGGLY GIRL?!?!" **_

She was walking up the aisle, wearing a miniskirt and a tight pink top. She blinked twice, making some guy stop and stare at her fluttering lashes. She walked as if she's walking onto a yacht, followed by close admirers. She flipped her hair, her steps steady as if walking in an airplane was the most casual thing to do.

_Swish, step step. _

The plane's noises didn't stop, but nearly all the guys were whispering by now. She was only a few feet from where Aya was sitting.

Aya turned around to the back of the plane where the regulars were sitting to see if they had noticed her. They didn't, and they kept talking about something. She wanted to yell across the plane and ask Eiji about her, and who the heck was Tachibana, and why a Fudomine girl is here.

"_Why is SHE here for our flight?! She doesn't even go to this school!!" _

She turned around and faced away from the regulars, for her nostrils filled up with flowery perfume or lotion of some sort. She looked up.

"_Oh Christ **no**." _

"Hi! You remember me from last week, right? An Tachibana." She smiled. "I believe you were..."

"Aya Minase."

"Yoroshiku, ne, Aya-chan?"

Aya just smiled in return. No reply.

An said, "Well, according to your teacher, I'm supposed to sit---"

_FLOP!_

"---Here."

Aya laughed weakly and found out that she had less room to breathe. She coughed and said rather quickly, "So, An...Why are you here?"

"Oh, you know...with Fudomine closed for the winter and all, I thought I'd do some volunteering."

"Volunteering?"

"Yeah." More smiling. "I thought I'd suggest this winter trip to your principal...and he thought it was a great idea!"

"YOU came up with this?!"

"Mm-hmm." She didn't sound guilty. Excited, even. "I rented the most luxurious cabin! Don't you think it's exciting? Oh, and by the way..." she turned around to look at somebody. Aya followed her gaze and saw that she was staring at the regulars. Then An turned and whispered to Aya, "Ne, you know Fuji-kun, right?"

"No."

"...You don't?"

"No."

"...Well, do you think you can introduce me to him?" her eyes sparkled and she brushed her skirt.

"...Uh..."

"Onegai!" she really wanted to meet this guy, doesn't she.

"_Okay, so we have a girl who just ruined my entire winter vacation, sitting beside me, putting on the innocent and girly act, asking me to introduce her to Fuji?? I will so NOT!!_

"_But on the other hand, this does give me a chance to show Fuji that I don't need him in my life after all..." _

Aya stood up. "Okay, follow me."

The two girls walked to Fuji's direction and stopped for there were a circle of girls around him---an impenetrable wall. Aya just pushed through the crowd. Fuji looked up at the two, one wearing pink and glitter (An), the other wearing a black tank top and ripped jeans (Aya). He opened his eyes. "Hey, Fuji," Aya began.

"Fuji, this is An. An, Fuji. Fuji, you remember her? An's the vain-ass bitch who thinks that she can say whatever she wants in my face and get away with it. Fuji, by the way, is a no-life tennis fuckwit who spends his time toying with random classmates. I'll leave the two of you alone so you can fuck each other in some way, shape, or form and ignore me for the rest of your pathetic lives."

At least, that was the introduction that Aya formed in her head.

"Fuji, this is An. An, Fuji. Fuji, you remember her? An was wearing the purple uniform, sitting with the Fudomine regulars. She has a really good personality. Fuji, by the way, is...he's very...well, you know...he's a brunette. Have fun!"

And with that, Aya walked off.

Momo overheard them. "'Have fun'?"

Eiji sat right next to him. "...Fuji's...'a brunette.'"

An turned to Fuji after the shock had died down. "Do you...know her well?"

Fuji spoke, "Un, she's...interesting." He closed his eyes and smiled again, being the usual Fuji. "She's just interesting."

-----------------------------------------

_Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick..._

The clock ticked.

Eiji suddenly whined out of the blue, "I can't take this tension anymore, nya!! We have to put the two of them in a better mood!!"

"Eiji." Inui looked back at him. "It's 1 A.M."

"We can still do _something."_

"Eiji-senpai," Momo looked like he was half-asleep already. "Don't butt into people's lives, remember?"

"But it's no fun that way!!"

The entire plane was asleep, or at least they seemed to be asleep. There would be a few whispers here and there, but it was pitch black, except for a pale glitch of moonlight. The entire airplane was about the size of...well...it's an airplane.

"I want to play!!" Eiji got up.

"What are you doing??" Momo got up and saw Eiji's figure in the shadows, slowly creeping to Aya's seat.

"Saa, she's asleep." Eiji observed her sleeping face, with her eyes closed, head on one side of her shoulder, lightly breathing. "Our luck. And it seems like all the Fujiko fangirls are asleep, too...yay!!"

Momo had caught up with him. "Eiji-senpai, I feel like a criminal! Let's go back and---what's this?" he stared at the object that was in Aya's hands. "...'Sleeping Nights Alone As a Virgin'...???"

Inui had caught up with them too. They were the only ones awake on the entire plane now, listening to Aya's silent breathing. The seat beside her was empty.

"So what are we going to do?" Momo whispered quietly.

"Where did An-chan go?" Eiji asked.

Momo frowned. "Wasn't she sitting with Aya this morning?"

"And then she left Aya to sit with..."

The three of them turned around slowly. "...Fuji," Eiji finished.

They crept towards Fuji's seat. There, sitting beside him like a heavenly maiden in the limelight, was An, her face like a sleeping angel's. Fuji's eyes were closed, but they were ALWAYS closed, so no one made a sound.

"Fuji's asleep," Inui informed.

"Shh!! Inui!! You never know what FUJI's up to. He could SEEM asleep, but he's tricky that way!!" Eiji elbowed Inui.

"Iya, it's not that..."

"What is it, Inui-senpai?"

"...I put some of my Inui Special Deluxe Drink in Fuji's water bottle earlier..."

"WHAT!!"

"...It was the one where I mixed pig oil with chicken fat." (A/N: Fuji actually DID faint after he drank this in the bowling episode!)

Momo's face turned blue.

Eiji shuddered, "I guess he's knocked out cold, then!" he felt Fuji's hand; they were indeed ice cold. "OK, men, grab a hold of Fuji's arms! I'll carry him by his leg!!"

"WHAT?! Eiji-senpai, WHAT are we DOING exactly??"

"We're getting Fuji back together with Aya, that's what!!"

"But they're not even fighting!! And let go of Fuji-senpai's shoes!!"

"You can at least HELP!"

_Rustle, rustle, BONK! Rustle. _

"...I mean it, I really feel like a criminal now." Momo was grabbing Fuji by his elbow.

"I think he gained about 0.7 pounds since last month."

"This is no time for data gathering!! Okay, okay, haul him over to Aya's aisle!!"

They heaved on "3," carrying the stone-like tensai halfway across the plane, and gently laid him on Aya's empty seat.

"There! And for a finishing touch---" Eiji poked Aya's head and held his breath sharply as she breathed in for a moment. She mumbled softly, "God...never forgive...that baka...SNORE." Slowly, she tilted her head and rested on Fuji's shoulder.

"Perfect!! Let's go away before anyone sees us!!"

Saturday was a perfect, romantic setting---a guy and a girl, partially holding hands, both covered in mud.

But they weren't really considered an item, and now their feelings have spun off in completely pointless directions.

-----------------------------------------

"_Meh...it's probably 8 already...Aoi would be shouting soon...my alarm would start singing...better get up or I'll be late for school..._

"_School...where I'll face Fuji Syuusuke...baka...definitely won't forgive him for pretending with me...I won't need him...I'll show that guy..." _

Fuji. Syuusuke. Brunette.

"Eh?"

Hair.

_Sniff, sniff._

Warm.

_Rustle._

Shoulder.

Shoulder? Hair? Strange scent?

"_**GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" **_

Aya tumbled onto the floor. "Eek!!"

What was he doing?! Why was she sleeping on his shoulder?? Where---

Aya slapped herself and looked around. Everyone was still sleeping, thank God. So what was SHE doing?? She looked from the clock to Fuji's sleeping face. It was seven, and apparently Fuji had somehow moved to her seat.

"An..." Aya twirled around and saw that An was still sitting beside Fuji's original seat. She hadn't moved since yesterday.

Aya got up. The regulars were still asleep, so they had nothing to do with it, did they?

She ran a hand through her hair and bit her knuckles. _"T**hat nasty, perverted BASTARD!!" **_

Sorry, Eiji. We knew that you were only trying to get them to be friends again, but Fuji's social status just changed from mental jerk to a nasty pervert. This was going to be one hell of a winter vacation...

* * *

Aha...I had some fun typing up this chapter. Thank you kind-hearted folks who leave reviews, and if you want to comment about the FujiAn thing, I'd like to know what you have to say to that! 


	5. He's the King and She's the Fool

Minna-san, konnichiwa! This is luvracci again!

Wow, so many of you preferred FujiAya to FujiAn!! (smiles) But then again, that is how I planned it. Don't worry; I wasn't planning on Fuji and An ending up together in the first place, but...it's interesting to think about the idea, ne? I've always pictured An to be like a guy magnet or something, so I made her the ultimate obstacle for Aya to reach out for Fuji. I wasn't planning on making a new OC because people don't like too many OCs in a story, so I used An instead. If you pay close attention to the anime, she **IS** perfect for this part.

Major thanks to those thoughtful people who reviewed so far!!! (in order from reviews page):

**aniime.crazii.hOi.hOi, stophoggingtheblanket, starrysnow, TheNewKid25, ShizukaK, kawaii-kitsune22, Lily, darkrisingphoenix, Ali, hairband, NE1410S, CherryBlood101, heavenly-anime-angelz, da shiz mint, lychee4ever, masi,** and **daysofHALCYON!!!**

It's thanks to y'all that I've come this far without losing hope about my story sounding stupid!! (chokes at my own comment)

Oh, and **THIS CHAPTER IS TOLD FROM AYA'S POV.Only SOME flashbacks are not told from her POV.** I'm better at writing from a first-person POV than a third-person POV, so I'm hoping that this would make the story better. And keep in mind that Aya is still paranoid and Fuji is NOT a pervert. THIS IS ONE BIG MISUNDERSTANDING SO FAR!!! XD

Okay, time for my heroic-yea-not-really battle cry: **ON WITH THE STORY!!! **

* * *

­­Chapter 5

May the Heavens above never let anyone find out about this scene!! What does Fuji think he's doing?! Is he _INSANE?! _How can he possibly think that he can get away with this??

"...Well, fine." If that's how he likes to play around when he's not sitting on his throne, then sat in _his _seat, next to An.

I don't know how I forced myself to sleep after that, but I must've have managed to doze off, because I knew as soon as I woke up: the anger started up again.

-------------------------------------

I couldn't believe it. Once I woke up, he didn't even show the slightest notion that he did something wrong! He's sitting in the seat I left him, talking to his usual group of fan girls from the C class. I can see his lips moving but I can't hear what he's saying. Would he be talking about me? Would everybody notice anything at all? I rub the sleep from my eyes and turn at the sound of flipping paper. An is casually reading a fashion magazine, humming some tune from some song. She looks up from her read and smiles at me. "Finally awake?"

"Y-yeah. Sorry about this. It's just that I couldn't sleep by my seat and I asked Fuji to switch with me."

"Oh, I already know that."

My ears perked up. "You do?"

"Un. I asked Fuji ten minutes ago and he told me the same thing."

The pilot reported on the speaker that we would be descending now.

So, Fuji didn't reveal the real story either. I wonder whether I should be glad or mad. Five minutes soon passed, and the plane descended and we were on land. I promised myself that I'd never let down my guard. One wrong move and I'd be better off dead. I took off my seat belt.

The circle of girls scattered away from Fuji as the teacher told us to get in an orderly line to exit. He's still smiling and acting innocent. I'll give him this: he's an okay actor.

I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to go home with my dad. But no, I'll be stuck in Tokyo forever. I blinked away the moisture from my eyes at my own realization, for I didn't want anyone to know what I'll always be feeling.

"Are you okay?" An asked me. _She_ noticed.

"Uh-huh. I just yawned, that's all!" It scared me to think that I lie the easiest when I'm not thinking. "Let's get off of this hay ride, it's making me sleepy," I said to her while smiling. She smiled too and stood up.

However, when _I _tried to get up, my head suddenly felt dizzy.

"H-huh?" I lost my balance and accidentally bumped into An.

"WHA-!!" We both fell backwards. Why am I always doing things like this?? We tried to get a hold of ourselves on the ground and I tried to apologize to An and to the people whose way we were blocking.

But then, like a flash, I saw _him _before us.

"Thanks," said An. It took me a while to realize that Fuji had helped her up. The few people around us who had noticed that we'd fallen stared at me. Their thoughts entered my head as if we were thinking the same thing: He'll help Aya up, too.

Fuji stretched a polite hand in front of me.

-flashback-

"_So he's NOT blind? Oh good. Now he's able to see me like this---"_

"_Nugh!" she tried standing up. _

"_Daijobukai?" Fuji asked her, surprised. Aya was nearly stupefied to see that he had his hands held in front of her._

-end flashback-

"NO!!"

_Slap-- _

I would never forget that look in his eye.

Why had I done that? Why would I ever slap anyone's hand away? He was a fool, but I was starting to get the feeling that I was the bigger fool. I helped myself up and gave a resilient glance toward Fuji's direction before stepping off the plane and not turning back.

The long nightmare is finally over! I stood in the chaos of the airport, eyeing the suitcases and bags that rotated on the black belt. I wish there were easier ways of getting baggage claim.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Oh. Hey, Eiji."

He looked like he didn't get a decent night's sleep; his face was paler than before, but he still managed to be hyper. "Ne, Aya-chan...can I ask you something?"

"_Please_ don't ask me about Fuji again," I groaned.

"Doushite?" his brows knitted.

"Let's just say that...he wasn't the guy I thought he'd be." I turned away and pretended to study a black suitcase to see if it was mine. I hope he would leave, but Eiji still stuck around.

"Why? Did something happen this morning? You can tell me about it!" he pointed to himself and smiled that kitty smile.

I acted like I didn't hear him. "Hey, do you my bag anywhere? It has my laptop in it."

"Before you and An fell this morning, did you notice...anything..._weird? _I mean, did you see how Fuji was...sitting in your seat this morning? Wasn't he trying to reassure you or something?"

I doubt it. "It's not that. I asked him to switch seats with me last night, Eiji."

Momo popped from nowhere and put a firm hand over Eiji. God bless him. The conversation was starting to get a little weird, as if Eiji knew something_ I _didn't. Momo said a quick, nervous "Gomen," and dragged Eiji to a distance. From the corner of my ear, I heard Momo whisper to Eiji about something I couldn't make out. I strained and heard the last part, though not quite clear, but it sounded like: "...Don't let anyone find out."

I soon saw my bag in clear view and grabbed it from the rotating belt. Well. Nothing else to do but wait for the teachers to give us further instructions. I really wished I hadn't seen my bag so soon: delaying that task would've given me an excuse to be busy.

That thought came around to slap me when I saw Fuji, the king himself, leave the circle of girls and start to walk to me.

What does _HE _want?! If it was to talk about the two incidents that happened earlier... I turned my head and pretended to not notice him walk up to me.

I looked up when he was close enough to be noticed. "What?" I asked rather harshly.

His hand fumbled in his jacket and took out a book.

"I found this next to me this morning. I don't know how it got there, but I think it belongs to you."

I saw the cover: Sleeping Nights Alone As a Virgin. _AUGH!!! _I totally forgot---I was reading that the night before!! The voice inside my mind shouted: "But don't let him know what you're thinking, act natural!!"

I muttered a cold monosyllable and didn't take it. Sadly, this was the best I could come up with: "I-I _know_ I left it last night. What made you think I didn't know? Do you actually think I'm that dumb?"

"Of course not."

That completely backfired my attempt. He sounded like he meant it.

But I remembered him this morning, the image and the scents coming back as if a tide ran

over me. I gained control of myself. "Then that's settled."

I took the book and smiled a Western choke-yourself smile. I wasn't too bad at this either.

I didn't stop smiling. I wasn't going to hand him his crown that easily, so think again, Fuji Syuusuke.

"Ja," I turned and walked off triumphantly.

An hour passed, and everybody took his or her assigned seats on the bus shuttle. I don't think An even remembers that I exist. To her, I was just the ticket to the Fuji Express.

But it seems as if I were wrong, because as I am sitting in my bus seat right now, An decides that she'll talk to me.

Why are my assigned seats always beside an empty one?? I have no idea, but now that space is occupied. An is radiant.

"Hey Aya!"

"Hey," I say, and look out the window. I didn't think she'd stick around, so I am surprised when she starts a conversation.

"You know, I really am looking forward to this trip." She's so energetic.

"Me too." What else can I say?

"And you know what else? Christmas is nearing."

"Yeah." Why is she so alarmingly happy about Christmas all of a sudden?

"Well," she shrugged, "you know what they say. I mean, the whole 'Christmas is for lovers' thing?"

I hope she didn't see my smile twitch. "Uh, sure...can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"Are...are you and..." I couldn't really bring myself to say it, hoping I'd be too direct. But I was curious. "Are you and Fuji together?"

Her smile grew wider.

"I-I mean...by that I meant...never mind!" I smiled harder myself and turned away.

"If you say so." Her tone of voice changed as she became a ray of sunshine. "Let's be friends, okay?"

"Sure."

But I was alarmed. That wide smile never went away.

-------------------------------------

I wonder why the plane forces people to turn off cell phones, but I had to make a phone call for my mum to tell her that I survived it.

"So how was the plane ride?" she asked me.

"If you must know, awful. _Worse _than terrible."

My parent responded to the shocking news with her usual lack of concern for anyone else, especially me. "Drop the sarcasm. So, you're in your hotel room now?"

"Yeah. But I want to go home."

"I'm sure you'll have a great time."

I sighed. What would she know? The last time she was my age was needless to say. "Ma, I have to go. Say hi to Aoi for me."

I couldn't talk with my mum like I could with my dad. I placed the phone on the bed and got dressed into fresh clothes; dinner would be called in half an hour. Who would I sit next to with Miyu gone? But I was half glad she wasn't there; she's been spending too much time with me. I think it'd be better if I didn't show up in a small part of her life for a while.

I turned on my computer and started to type about the day's events. I wrote:

"Things weren't what I thought they'd be. Maybe I'd make just a little impression on somebody, anybody. Starting a new reputation was the most exciting thing about Japan."

I stopped typing. Why did I feel so light-headed back at the airplane? Why would I slap away Fuji's hand? Why did I get that feeling that I didn't want to be friends with An?

I didn't want to go to dinner. The teachers will be too occupied with the other 80 students anyway. Who would notice that_ I _of all people was gone? I moved my hips to a comfortable position on the bed and took out a book that my father had given me. Why had I packed this book along with me? Maybe _that_ was it. I just wanted a taste of home.

Then...why does his voice constantly ring in my ears? "Of course not. Of course not. Of course not."... Am I possibly...? I shook my head. I don't know if I should be happy that he said that, or I should be angry because he can possibly be pretending to be nice, or Lord knows what else.

I blinked and turned the pages of the book, a heavy volume containing aerial photographs of China's many towns and cities. I stopped every once in a while to go back to the very first page and feel its surface. Dad had written, "For Tie Mei" in his thin scribbles. My real name is Tie Mei, the "tie" meaning "steel" and "mei" meaning a combination of four characteristics: "beauty," "faith," and two other ones that I had forgotten long ago. The Chinese name didn't really appeal to me as much as Aya, since no one called me Tie Mei anyway, except for Dad when he was angry with me.

When we first visited America in 2002, we fell in love with "Drops of Jupiter", a western song. "The lyrics are beautiful," he used to say. "It reminds me of you."

"_Really?" I was flattered. _

"_Yep. Just like the girl in the song, you're always on Cloud 9." _

"_WHAT!" _

-end flashback-

I wonder why he wasn't as close to Aoi as he was with me. I think I carried more of his traits than her. I could always laugh or cry around him; he was one of my best friends.

I shut the book and put it aside. I couldn't keep myself busy in any way---I abandoned my precious phone, laptop, and book. Instead I thought.

If I were feeling so homesick, why does _he _enter my thoughts? Yes, Fuji Syuusuke is indeed poison, darkening the image of my father and China and putting himself in focus.

I really thought I could trust him. I thought maybe we could be good friends.

I did my best to avoid his eyes at dinner. A group of girls from my class started a conversation with me and I sat next to them. I can't even remember what we were talking about---I think it was something stupid, like crushes or breakups or whatever.

"So what do you think of Fuji?" one of them said.

"He's cute," another girl answered.

"Definitely. But he's too complicated already---there's, like, a million girls after him already."

"Yeah. And have you seen that An girl? She doesn't go to our school, does she? But look, she's sitting with the C class right now."

I remembered our agreement to be friends with each other, but somehow I resented it.

_Does that make me a bad person?_ I thought about this as I stared at her direction.

I switched glances---Fuji and my eyes met. He was sitting with the regulars. It was only for a short while, but he gave me a _warm_ smile for a change. But then I remembered his eyes from earlier today, so I swallowed my pride and didn't smile back. Dinner will be over in a few minutes, so I can tolerate a few more awkward moments for now, but...

"Fuji, what are you smiling at?"

But...

"Nothing, Eiji."

He makes it hard for me to forget him.

-------------------------------------

-Third person POV-

Class D's chaperone answered his cell phone. It was the airport calling him. "Hai? Oh...yes. There's a Aya Minase in my class. She sat in aisle 24, seat F.

"!! Oh...I'm terribly sorry about this. Thank you. Thank you," he hung up.

"What is it?" an on-looking teacher asked.

"Apparently, Aya Minase forgot her purse and left it on the plane. They'll have it sent to the check-in desk right away. I'd better go tell her..."

He left the dinner table and got in an elevator, taking out his master keys. "She's in room 3093, I think..." He checked his watch: it was 11 P.M. already. She'd be asleep by now. With a sigh, he decided against the idea and thought of just getting the purse tonight and giving it to her tomorrow. He was about to press an elevator key for the first floor when the door opened and saw a swift figure pass by one of the halls.

"Fuji Syuusuke!" he stepped out of the elevator, and Fuji stopped walking. "What are you doing up so late?! You should have been locked in your hotel room an hour ago!"

"I had to run an errand for Ms. Shizuka," he answered. "I'm returning to my room now."

"Oh. Well, in that case...could you run one more errand for me?"

"Sure."

"Could you go run to the check-in desk and go retrieve Aya Minase's purse for me? I'll be downstairs with all the other teachers. And put on a jacket, aren't you cold?"

"It's fine." He merely nodded to the elevator's direction and got in one of them. Once the doors closed on him, he had to smile a little harder. She had forgotten her own bag? Of course she did. She was funny that way.

He took his time with his errand and did as he was told. After he got the American label bag for the chaperone, he made his way to his own room.

His room was #4052, meaning that he had to pass Aya's on his way there. Imagine his surprise and humor as he found out that she had forgotten to lock her door. It was partly ajar.

The cold air conditioning escaping from her room swept across his cheeks and he remembered the unpleasant encounter earlier. But he forgave Eiji and the others for what they had done.

-flashback-

_Momo still held his hand against Eiji's mouth. "Don't let anyone find out!" _

"_I know!" Eiji twisted himself free._

"_Let anyone find out about what?"_

_Momo and Eiji turned to face Fuji. "Uh..." they stammered. Eiji smiled, "Nothing! We were just talking about how horrible Momo snores in his sleep." _

"_Or how terribly Eiji drools in HIS sleep," Momo added with a glare at Eiji's direction. _

_Fuji gave them a searching look. He wasn't kidding with this. _

_Finally, Inui came into the scene. "We were the ones who moved you out of your seat." _

"_INUI!!!" _

"_He should know the truth," Inui smiled deviously. _

_Fuji opened his eyes. _

_Inui continued, "I have never seen you react anyway to someone you've just met. Ii data." _

-end flashback-

Fuji put a hand to her door and slowly opened it. Soundlessly, he entered her room and closed the door behind him. Aya was nowhere to be seen.

Then he saw her. Wrapped in millions of blankets and covered with tons of pillows, Aya was buried deep in her bed, sound asleep.

But only to a normal person would she look like she was happily dreaming. Fuji walked to her side, never keeping his eyes off her. It was dark, but his eyes soon adjusted to it and he could make out her face. He bent down and pulled the covers away from her forehead so she wouldn't suffocate herself.

Perspiration ran from her hair to her neck; her breathing was heavy. She looked like she was having a nightmare, he could see. He stood there and listened to her breathe for a few minutes.

Suddenly, Aya looked...sad? She mumbled something and he heard her: "Don't tell me that. I'm not getting on that thing. I'm not leaving."

Then and there Fuji understood why she felt dizzy back on the plane. It reminded her of the day of her move.

What was that feeling? Pity? No. He opened his eyes.

He gently sat beside her on the bed and stroked her bangs. Aya seemed to relax at his touch. She closed her mouth and her breathing became lighter.

She opened her eyes. "Mmm...?"

She sat up to rub her eyes. She could've sworn she felt something gentle against her skin, but there was no one in the room but her.

* * *

So what did you think? Is there any improvement? 

And for anyone who has not heard of "Drops of Jupiter" by Train, please listen to it! It's beautiful.


	6. Drops of Jupiter

Ahh, I've decided to update ASAP, since many of you left thoughtful reviews about it. - Thank you. Really, thank you so much!!

**New translations:**

******hakukakotai --- An albino person. If you didn't know, they are people with pure white hair and bright red eyes, who only have those colors because they have had some genetic mutations.**

"Chikusho" --- This should be censored, but who cares!! This is What's the worst that could happen? Yea, it's "shit" in Japanese.

**BEFORE YOU READ THIS**, I would like to comment on the fact that this fanfic, _I Write Real Dramas, Not Fairytales! I Think, _is like an anime series, meaning that sometimes it would have one of those ending theme songs. In this chapter, or more like _episode,_**the ending song would be "Fall to Pieces" by Avril Lavigne. **When its lyrics start showing, it means that the song is starting. It ends halfway, only through the first chorus. I've listened to it while reading the end of this chappie, and it really does work well, doesn't it? - Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 6**

"It's interesting. Spying on Seigaku is a lot more fun than I thought. Un, I saw the pack go inside the hotel yesterday."

Atobe Keigo sat in his velvet chair, comfortably seated like royalty. Well, he almost _is_ like royalty, considering the fact that he owns many, _many _vacation homes---even one in Yamanashiken. Surprise, surprise.

He flicked his hair in a graceful manner and smiled. He was on the phone. "Ore-sama won't let you down." With that, he hung up.

Why was the famous Hyotei tennis player at the same place where Seigaku has escaped to for the holidays? Well, first answer one question: If the Seigaku principal announced that the _ninth_ graders were going on a getaway, what was _Momo_ doing on the plane when he's in eighth grade? The _entire_ Sigaku tennis club went to Yamanashiken _not _for a vacation, but for some special training. No one knew this, of course, but the confrontation with Fudomine in the district preliminaries gave Ryuzaki-sensei, the ever-strict coach, a real reality check and everyone had to work harder. She had been on the plane ride too.

The man who called himself "ore-sama" had been on his private jet and had flown to their vacation site. He was simply curious with Seigaku; Hyotei had beaten them last year, but they didn't seem the same this year. They were stronger, better.

Atobe said to himself, "Really interesting..." He put a thoughtful finger to his chin. He got up to look at a sheet of paper that was tacked to his wall. He studied it.

"So, everyone at Seigaku's going nature hiking today... I think it won't hurt to make my appearance sometime today..."

-----------------------------------------

The sky was clear and bright, with a few clouds in sight. The air was fresh, as if a new wind had swept through all of Yamanashiken, highlighting its beautiful geographic scenery even more. A pack of birds flew and rested on a balcony railing of a very lavish hotel, bathing in the morning sun. They stared curiously through the nearby glass door, their eyes transfixed on two certain boys, one of whom stared at the other in horror.

"Nya..." Eiji did indeed sound afraid. "Fujiko, you...brought your _cactus_ with you?"

Apparently Fuji didn't think it was that weird. He smiled as he placed it tenderly on top of a desk.

Eiji wanted to ask why, but instead he started another rather awkward conversation.

"What do you think of Aya?"

Fuji kept his closed eyes on the cactus. "Well, she's...different."

"I mean, what do you think of her?"

The honey-haired boy chuckled lightly. "What do you mean?" Eiji had been getting at this since yesterday.

Eiji looked up at the ceiling in thought and eventually noted, "She's real cute." He cupped his chin in his hands and rested his elbows on the desk, staring at Fuji. "Don't you think so, nya?"

He elbowed Fuji, forcing an answer out of him.

"Un."

Somewhere in another hotel room, a girl in a shrimp-like pose ruffled under the covers and sneezed.

_Morning already? Meh..._

Aya sniffled and got out of her bed, her capris and gigantic t-shirt weighing down on her. She always wore baggy clothes to sleep and wore her long, dark cardinal hair in braids. She rubbed her scalp, and somehow her forehead felt cool. This would be one of her good days when she can actually, if not impossibly, think straight.

"Huh?" She made a face when she saw that her door was unlocked. She shrugged it off; yesterday _wasn't_ one of her good days...she thought too much, and that just made everything more complicated than it has to be.

Aya mumbled while brushing her teeth, "Okay...so yesterday was a bit...awkward. But!! Today can't possibly be any worse than yesterday." She focused her attention to a piece of paper tacked on the wall. The activity schedule. "Mmm, let's see...today we'll be..."

Her eyes widened. ..._Nature hiking?!_ "No, you're kidding!!! WAH!!"

The time on her watch startled her. She was going to be late!!

She quickly rinsed her mouth and wiped it with a towel. She jumped out of the room and nearly tripped over a cat that was walking down the halls. "Gomen!!" she yelled back while running.

Suddenly, when her head was turned back, she bumped into someone.

"Oof!!" She didn't fall back but steadied herself while apologizing. "Sumimasen!! I'm _so so so _sorry!" She ran past him too, never getting a chance to catch his face.

Fuji opened his eyes in surprise. That was... "Minase-san...?" He was on his way outside, too, but he momentarily stopped to study what the running figure was wearing. Army capris and a men's extra large t-shirt?

When Aya finally reached the hotel parking lot, she placed her hands on her knees to rest for a few seconds. A couple of students who have noticed her arrival stared at her. One girl giggled.

But Aya hadn't noticed. Her attention was set on a girl who was chatting with a circle of girls.

"MIYU!!!"

Miyu turned around and saw Aya---the first thing she did was laugh.

"Oh my gosh, Aya!" Aya thought she was going to choke, because she was laughing so much.

"W-what? Is there something on my face?"

Miyu inhaled slowly and wiped a tear from her eye. "Ha ha. It's good to see you again...I should've expected this!"

"Expected _what?" _

"Look, Aya...just what are you wearing!"

Aya's oblivious "Eh?" transformed into an incredulous **_"EHHHHH?!?!"_** once she saw herself wearing her sleep wear.

Miyu noticed something else about Aya and excused herself from her friends, who had been chatting and had not noticed Aya (surprisingly). Miyu then walked up to her and asked her in a quiet tone so no one can hear, "Aya, are you even wearing a bra?"

"Er..." She turned red. She wasn't!

"Dear God! What have you been doing?" Miyu felt another surge of laughter coming. "Maybe you should change before anyone else notices you!"

"Hey, _you _try getting ready with ten minutes left on the clock!!"

But Miyu noticed yet another fault with Aya's morning look. "And what's up with your hair? Did you even brush it?"

Aya's hands flew to her head. "Wha--?? Augh, I forgot about that...damn, don't rub it in!!"

"It's really good to be here with you, of all people," Miyu mused. "Okay, let's go ask the teacher and get yourself dressed."

"But we'll be behind everyone! The hike starts in ten minutes!"

"It's a-OK, we can just catch up later. C'mon!"

Aya sighed. Miyu asked the teacher and he gave the two of them permission to go back inside the hotel.

Once away from everybody and inside the hotel, Aya finally got a chance to ask, "So, Miyu, why're you here?"

She gave Aya this cocky look. "You know that I'm not going to let you have all the fun by yourself!"

"Ah, you mean Kunimitsu-san?"

It was Miyu's turn to go red. "I can't survive two weeks without seeing him! So I thought, 'what the hell, I might as well go!' Oh, did I tell you about my plane ride? Y'see, there was this really, really freaky guy sitting next to me wearing this tie-dye 60's shirt and bell bottom jeans, and he had this weird chain around his neck---" She stopped, the sight of a familiar boy and classmate shutting her up.

"Shiho-san...! Minase-san."

Aya let out a small "GYA!!" and hid behind Miyu. She'd die if anyone but Miyu saw her like that.

It was Fuji. He was on his way out.

Miyu answered his quizzical look by saying, "We're going back inside the hotel so Aya can freshen up. Say, do you know where Tezuka-sama is?" She quickly changed the subject. "I haven't seen him."

Fuji's face changed into the usual smiling look at her question. _There_ was the usual Miyu that 3-D knew. "Well, we were thinking of doing some special training at the base of the mountain."

"Great! We'll come along!! Just get Ryuzaki-sensei to call our chaperone and tell him we're going with the tennis club."

"De-demo---" Before Fuji could say anything, they ran past him, Miyu saying, "Wait for us while we get changed, okay?"

The 9th graders would've left by now. The poor guy had no choice but to disobey the rules and bring along two girls to their secret training.

Midway into the corridor to Aya's hotel room, after they were at a safe distance, Aya smacked Miyu upside the head. "What were you thinking??"

"I was thinking that I wanted to spend more time with Tezuka-sama!"

"But that means we'll have to be with the _rest _of the regulars, too!!"

"So? What's it to _you_?"

"I---"

_--- don't like Fuji Syuusuke. _

"...Miyu, it's just that I..."

_...don't like Fuji Syuusuke! _

"...It's just that..."

_...I don't like Fuji Syuusuke! _

"...It's just that I'm afraid of Inui."

Miyu raised a hearty eyebrow. "That's why? Aya, don't worry; the guy might look and act like a freak, but he won't stalk you or anything...although he stares at my Tezuka-sama all throughout his games..."

Aya just gave her a weak smile at the sight of the sudden change of mood. "Uh-huh." She shook her head. "Never mind, I'm not that scared of Inui now. I think I can survive."

_...All I have to do is ignore him for the entire time. _

In Aya's room, Miyu went on the phone and talked with her friends while Aya showered.

She undid her braid and let the water paste it on her shoulders. Oh, if only the shower could last forever so she'd never have to go back outside again! It was soothing, but she knew that she couldn't escape when Miyu started banging against the bathroom door in frustration.

"Aya!! Hurry up, I want to surprise Tezuka-sama!!"

She wrapped her hair in a towel and stared at herself in the mirror. She had broad shoulders; a distinctive facial line; long legs; a rich skin tone. "I guess I'm not _that _bad...but if looks are the only things I have to offer, what will become of me! I don't want to end up like...the giggly girl..."

A sheen of light reflected off her dark cardinal eyes. _The giggly girl... what's her deal with Fuji? _

"Augh, what am I thinking?? I don't care about anything like that. No. Way."

More door banging. "Aya!! Are you talking to yourself??"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!!"

-LATER-

A midget came into clear view outside. Aya recognized him as a regular, the same guy who she saw at the district preliminaries. He had gotten his eye injured, but he still beat the Fudomine guy.

"Um...Ochibi!" Aya had learned this from Eiji.

He twitched and turned around. "You're the...you're that ******hakukakotai girl's sister," he said, thinking of Aoi. On the day of the district preliminaries, she had driven her car to pick Aya up. Most people do mistake her for an Asian hakukakotai, because she's got the Minase family cardinal eyes and unnatural hair that she bleached, so they appeared purely white. **

A vein popped on Aya's forehead. "What a way to be remembered, you little..."

"Hey, where's Fuji?" Miyu cut in, saving the two from a nasty argument. "He promised us to follow him to the training place..."

"Apparently everyone got tired of waiting for 2 hours and they pulled Fuji into practice to get his share of the tortue. I was sent here later," he replied in a bored tone.

Miyu punched Aya's arm. "Ow!"

"It's all your fault, Aya!! Now I won't be able to surprise Tezuka-sama!! Grr..."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"Not okay!! What would _you _do if you wanted to surprise Fuji-kun but ended up arriving two hours late???"

_NO!! _She sharply turned to look at Ryoma. He couldn't possibly tell Fuji, could he??

The seventh grader's face revealed an amused smirk.

"**_GAHH!!!_** You'd better not tell anyone, or else I'll hammer your head into the ground and you'll be shorter than you are _now!!!_"

He twisted his cap, but the smirk remained. "Who ever said anything about telling? Is it Fuji-senpai you're interested in?" he added.

"Wha---!! How _rude!!_ Don't they ever teach you rookies anything??"

"Calm down, senpai. I'm not interested in stuff like that."

By now, Aya's face was tomato-red, partially from the anger, but mostly from the embarrassment that someone besides Miyu got the wrong idea about Fuji. She desperately tried to keep her language PG-rated. "Listen, twerp, I don't care what you think of me, but if you _do _tell _anyone, _absolutely _anyone_ about that false rumor that's coming from behind your rotten little teeth, I will kill you, then break in your grave and burn you, then burn you _again _and _again _until you've become a pathetic molecular pile of ashes' ashes!!!"

"Well, I'm not a big fan of cremation, but arigatou."

Miyu's face was also tomato-red now; she was, yet again, laughing so hard that her veins might pop out of her lungs and other internal organs.

"Hurry up" was all he said before walking off, the two girls trailing behind him to the base of Seigaku's training headquarters.

"I can't believe you wore platforms, baka." Aya studied her friend's heels.

Miyu stuck her tongue out. "Shut up! What would I do if I don't appear worthy for my drop-dead gorgeous future boyfriend?"

"Ha. Real cute, except you forget the fact that it's in the middle of the winter and you're wearing a babydoll halter top?" Aya was wearing a warm, small V-neck sweater. "What's up with that?"

Miyu suddenly linked her arm in Aya's. She gave one look at Ryoma to make sure he wasn't listening, and started her...theory:

"Okay, Aya, you swear you won't tell anyone? The reason why I'm dressed like this is so that Tezuka-sama will notice me, and then, if my plan works out perfectly, I'll sneeze---" she paused to demonstrate a fake sneeze. "---and he'll give me his jersey for keeps!! Or, at least he'll offer it to me or something. Isn't that romantic??"

"Sure...but work on that sneeze. It sounds totally fake."

All throughout the entire 1-hour walk, Miyu practiced her sneeze. Ryoma just sighed every once in a while and always trudged on ahead, never bothering to look back, wondering why the world is so wrong that a seventh grader has to baby-sit two immature "senpais."

But of the senpais wasn't that immature---she was indeed, naïve---; but "immature," if it can be helped, wasn't one of her qualities anymore. Although the "clumsy" part of her will never leave her side, it seems, because just as the three start to take a turn, she trips on a dead tree branch that was lying on the grass.

Aya collected herself from the fall. "Ita---!! That really hurt!!"

Miyu shook her head at her. She sighed, "You'd think you could've learned by now."

"Stop it. It really hurts!" Blood was flowing out of her knee and wetting her lower leg. "Do either of you have a Band-Aid?"

Ryoma helped her up. "Geez, lady."

"WHAT!!"

He sighed. "Can you walk?"

"I...I don't know."

He sighed again. "I'll go look for first aid."

"Wa—where??"

But Ryoma already took off. He was short, but he was pretty damn fast. "Baka," Aya breathed. What were they supposed to do while he's gone? I guess there's nothing to do but wait for him.

Aya leaned against Miyu for support. Momentarily, they saw someone come up the walkway.

_Hmm? If this guy's this far into the trail, he must be heading for the tennis courts, too..._

That "someone" was tall, dark, and handsome---at least, to his own two eyes.

He stopped when he saw the two people, blocking the walkway. "Is that any way to treat yourself?" was the first thing he asked, smiling. He stared at Aya's leg.

Miyu flinched and had a feeling that this _suave debonair _attitude wasn't just an every-day experience. "Who're you?"

He laughed lightly. "I'm no one you should take into consideration. I'm just here...for my own reasons." He felt his hair in a haughty manner. "You can say that I was never here."

He studied Aya's leg for a brief moment, and did the most unexpected thing that was definitely not on anyone's mind but his.

"H-hey--_-WHOA!!!" _

He swept her in his arms, bridal-style, his hand on the crook of her knee and the other steadying her shoulder.

"WTF??? LET _GO!!"_ A pink flush rushed over Aya's face.

"Let go and what? Leave you here to die while that boy runs off aimlessly somewhere?"

"We can manage surviving without your help, thanks!!" she said.

"The only people who would be walking so far into this trail are going to the tennis courts...aren't you?"

No one denied that, but Miyu said, "We're still waiting for our friend. He'll be back anytime now."

"Good. Then he can catch up." He started walking calmly through the grass. "It's just around the corner---see? It's right there."

A gray building and half a dozen tennis courts came into clear view; the sound of tennis could now be heard. "It'll only be ten minutes until we get there."

The mysterious rescuer smiled and Aya's heart suddenly pounded. They walked in silence, Aya clutching the guy's neck. Miyu followed behind and blushed ever so slightly, imagining what it would be like if she were in Tezuka's arms.

He placed Aya back on the ground gently once they reached a good distance. Aya muttered, "Arigatou...I think."

This mysterious stranger had already sensed something and turned around, expectant for something. He smiled, which meant that this was all according to plan, when he saw Inui and Ryoma standing behind him.

"If it isn't Hyoutei's very own captain, Atobe Keigo." Inui smiled a little. "I'm impressed."

"It'd be a shame if you weren't." He smiled in return.

Atobe closed his eyes for a moment, still smiling. Now he opened them. "Just for your own useful data...we're always a step ahead of you."

Before Aya could figure out what was going on, he left. Just like that. He wasn't really a rescuer, was he. But why did her heart pound like that?

Because...all the while he held her, Aya's mind raced with the same name: Fuji Syuusuke.

_Why was that? _That question would remain unanswered for a while...

Seigaku was smart for choosing an isolated tennis club on the base of a mountainside to practice. There, barely anyone showed up, so it was safe to do practically anything. The regulars were now practicing their swings, when the news were starting to spread.

"Atobe Keigo?" Fuji's smile faded.

"That's what I heard from Inui-senpai," said Momo. He frowned. "I thought I sensed something. Creeps. But the scoop was that he was seen..._carrying_..." His eyes drifted to where Aya was sitting.

Fuji said nothing.

Aya had no inkling that they were discussing about her. Instead, she was watching Tezuka have a practice match with Oishi. It seemed that Tezuka never actually had practice matches with anyone.

"Ah, you're still getting better." Oishi wiped the perspiration off his forehead with the back of his hand.

Tezuka relaxed his pose and flexed his left elbow a bit.

Miyu sneezed, setting her plan into action.

Tezuka gazed at Oishi. "You said Hyotei was here?"

"Ah-choo!!"

Oishi shrugged. "That's what I heard. Not to worry, though."

"Ah-_CHOO!!"_

"I know." He stopped flexing his elbow.

Aya laughed. Tezuka didn't even notice Miyu, whose patience was running out. "Ah-c---"

Kaidoh, practicing nearby, was running short on patience too. "Hey. That's aggravating."

Miyu ignored him and continued to sneeze like there would be no tomorrow.

Sakuno and her friend were there too. She and Tomoka made Ryoma a bento lunch.

There were signs of love everywhere.

"I---I think I'll go for a walk," Aya says, and stands up. Of course, nobody heard her. She was just stating it to whomever it may concern, but everyone was too preoccupied. "Maybe I'll just go back to the hotel now."

As much as she was fascinated by their training---crunches with weights on their backs, running long distances, et cetera... she was just not comfortable. It was as if she didn't belong there; she just stood there and watched, doing nothing.

_Well, it's fine. I didn't want to come here in the first place. _She walked through the exit and went back into the nature trail. She took hesitant steps at first, looking back through the glass screen to see Fuji laughing with the regulars. Then...then his smile seemed to drive her further, giving her the strength to walk off until she was too far see their tiny faces any longer.

Her leg healed slowly. Every step was painful, physically. It never occurred to her that she might be suffering emotional pains also.

"He's got An," she said after a long period of silence to herself. Trudging, she continued, "And even if they weren't together, he's got a million others to choose from."

_Not counting me, _she added.

The whole idea was unbelievably surreal! How could this guy whom she'd only known for half a month have such an effect on her?

Ah, beloved rain. It started to pour down, drenching Aya from top to bottom. "Chikusho."

She looked around for a place to dry off. As she looked around, she noticed something strange. "H-huh?"

There were no signs of the trail. She was lost.

-----------------------------------------

"Minna!!" Ryuzaki-sensei shouted from a pavilion while everyone rushed in the rain, trying to grab towels. "Take a quick break."

"Saa!! That felt good!" Eiji gasped after quenching his thirst.

"It's been a while since we've worked this hard," Taka said.

"Kyaa!! Sakuno, hurry up!!" Tomo rushed under the protective roof of the pavilion while Sakuno got pelted by the rain. "You're gonna get all wet!!"

"I'm coming!" She covered her hair with her hands while dashing across the grass.

Ryoma was on his way to the shelter too, and slowed down to grab Sakuno's hand and pull her to the pavilion. Sakuno blushed.

The regulars were watching this. Momo, who could never let an opportunity like this slip by, whistled. "Youth in love," he smirked. Ryoma shot him a glare while Sakuno's face shot up the scale like a firecracker. She shuffled closer to Tomoka.

"Nyaaaa...isn't that cute?" Eiji perked.

Everybody laughed.

With the drizzle of rain in the background, Fuji watched this with melting eyes. Ah, ah, those sounds felt so familiar! One name constantly repeated itself in his head. That person could've been...

"_What was that?"_ he thought, what was it that he felt when he found out about Atobe and Aya? It had nothing concerning him. So why He looked around and let his thoughts wander.

That's he realized. He bolted for the exit.

_Shaaa..._

The rain sang; Aya was caught in the middle of the melody, looking around, desperate. _Was it this way? Which was did I come from?? DAMN!!_

The soil beneath the soles of her shoes was starting to feel slippery, and everything was covered in thick mud. Her wound stung. _God... _She looked with disgust at the blood dripping out from it. She grabbed a handful of cool mud and smothered it all over the cut. She knew that the predicament she was in was all her fault and nobody else's, but she "Didn't have a choice in the first place!!"

A whistling sound brought her back to Earth. Its shrill sound rang across the dense treetops.

"EVERYONE!!" She shouted as she recognized the sound as the chaperones' signal whistle. The rest of the school was nearby! Without a moment's hesitation, she ran fast---or tried to, thanks to her cut---toward the sound. Momentarily, she had to stop.

"Lost?"

An Tachibana held an umbrella over herself, leaning over a low tree branch, surprising Aya. "Uh---"

"Did you run off from Fuji and the others again?"

The partial unwelcoming feeling in her question was hard to ignore.

"Uh, no---I-I was just taking a walk."

She giggled.

Aya could feel herself heating up. _Does she think I'm pathetic??_

"The others are nearby," she said, "you should come dry off."

"Yeah..."

Shouts in the distance interrupted them. There was no mistake that the regulars had formed a search party.

An gasped and slipped away.

It was indeed a sight. Miyu, Ryuzaki-sensei, Sakuno, and Tomoka were following too. Eiji was the first one to run up to her and ask, "Where were you??"

"I was---I was walking," she replied.

Momo saw someone: _"---An!!" _He dashed after her.

"Wait, Momo!!" Oishi shouted after Momo, who didn't cease running at top speed.

Everyone ran after Momoshiro. Everyone but Aya and Fuji.

Soon, Miyu and the others caught up. She saw the two and felt that she should urge Ryuzaki-sensei and the other two to follow the search of Momoshiro. They left also.

Aya didn't know what sort of facial expression he was wearing because she didn't face him. Fuji kneeled on the ground, ignoring the mud and rain.

"W-what are you doing, baka!!"

His smile reappeared.

"I'm returning a favor, Minase-san."

He took off his Seigaku jersey and tore it apart. He wiped the mud off Aya's knee with his hands and started working.

_I looked away, then I look back at you_

She stood there while he worked. It was a moment of complete silence, only the rain in the background; they were both drenched but that didn't seem to matter. When he was nearly done, he said, "We can look for the others soon."

_You try to say the things that you can't undo_

"Didn't I tell you that you were a fool?"

He looked up because her voice was breaking.

Aya had her hands to her face. "Why do you do this to me...?"

_If I had my way, I'd never get over you_

_Today's the day, I pray that we make it through_

"Minase-san...?"

_Make it through the fall, make it through it all..._

_And I don't wanna fall to pieces, I just wanna sit and stare at you_

_I don't wanna talk about it; and I don't want a conversation,_

_I just wanna cry in front of you._

_I don't wanna talk about it..._

_  
...'Cause I'm in love with you..._

_

* * *

_

Thank you for reading!


	7. God Is a Smart Man

Sorry I haven't updated in a while! But Spring Break is over and now I'm typing this in the dark to make up for it!

To those who are reading this right now; to those who have reviewed and helped me; to those who read this story up to this point and is waiting for me to finish talking so you can read the chapter, THANK YOU. Arigatou gozaimasu. I love y'all for following me through the chapters and reading this much. Honestly. All of your names that I know of will be posted on the last chapter!

**Format:**

-

That little dash above signals the beginning and the end of a flashback.

Whenever you see "-Aya-" on the top of an interval, it means that that part will be told from Aya's POV. Let's go!! XD

* * *

-Aya-

One would consider tears as a way of expressing oneself, even if it's the most embarrassing thing you've done, even if feelings aren't allowed to be returned, or whatever Fate has in store for you... Funny how the raindrops resemble tears.

Fuji stood up slowly; I could hear his pants sliding off the mud. I opened my eyes to gaze into his chin, still fearing his open eyes, its cerulean gaze lingering in a corner of my sight.

Now I could tell that his eyes closed again as he put on his smile. He spoke in a hushed tone.

"Please don't cry."

_Tha-thump._

"I--I am _not _crying!" I flung my arms open to show him my tearless face and dry eyes. "I'm not a baby, Syuusuke. I can take care of myself!"

His eyes caught something. He tapped a finger on my forehead and I flinched. "What the heck...!" A tingling sensation washed over my face.

"Don't move..."

_Tha-thump._

Fuji held up a ladybug that was apparently making its way up my head before he saw it. "Oh," I murmured. "Gross!" My hands flew to my forehead as I waved my other free hand. "Get it away from me."

Fuji kept his eyes on the ladybug, which was now crawling up his hand. "Minase-san, that was the first time you called me by my name."

"Huh?" I shrugged. "You mean when I said 'Syuusuke'?"

The name sent shivers up my spine and I was afraid that my tongue would grow numb.

He is still smiling at me. "Un."

"Hmph. It's no big deal," I hear myself tell him, but I felt myself straining to _smile!_ Why the hell?? But he actually noticed that I said his name...?

The Golden Smile lingered. "All right."

Wait: my hand was still rubbing my forehead. I had meant to rub the bug's germs off, but my finger still lingered around the spot where Fuji's hand touched. It was still warm.

I removed my hand. "So, should we head back?"

He nodded. "This way," he directed, taking my hand.

During our walk, all I noticed was his palm against mine. _Concentrate on getting back to the hotel alive, _my brain lectured, but I just stared at his hand like a paralyzed sheep. I try shaking the feeling aside, but like an automaton my eyes stared at his fragile-looking skin. It's so smooth, even though he should get calluses from doing so much tennis stuff. God, what sort of hand lotion does he use?

_Men don't wear lotion, idiot, _the voice inside my head keeps screaming, but like the idiot that I really am, I stay awed by his hand.

He suddenly slows his pace and turns his head back to me. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," I answer, presuming he means my leg.

He chuckles. "No, I mean Tokyo." He stops walking entirely as if he really cares.

I don't stop, however, so I drag him into walking again. "I'm good." He doesn't answer; he is expecting me to say something more, just as anyone would do, but I'm not good at holding conversations like this. "It's different, but I'm still alive."

"I'm glad," he says. Although I am not facing him, I can tell he is smiling by the tone of his voice.

But I still remember the Fuji at the airport.

"Oh, _are _you?"

By this time I have stopped walking and snapped back to look at him. He looks a little bit surprised as his lips part, but his eyes are still closed. "_Are _you, really?" I repeat.

"I mean, why should you care?" I babble, "You never think of anyone but yourself. I bet you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

_God...what's wrong with me?_

I expect him to say my name questioningly. Instead, he...he seems to know what I'm talking about. "On that night..."

_Even if he IS a perverted bastard, I couldn't care less, because I have no feelings for him whatsoever..._

"Oh?" I glare.

_...Absolutely NO feelings..._

He looks at me. "...I was happy that you came with us on the trip." I find myself facing his gradual smile. "I didn't think of anything else, Minase-san."

I completely understood.

It _wasn't_ him.

-------------------------------

-Aya-

My grip loosens and I let go of his hand in shock.

-

"_...Don't let anyone find out."_

-

Was it _them_? SERIOUSLY? But then, what about Fuji...?

Seconds have flown by when I finally stutter, "Herg."

His laugh completely got the message across: "Herg" isn't a word.

I should probably be angry for him laughing at me. But why am I not? _Fuji Syuusuke isn't an airhead, he isn't conceited, and he totally isn't perverted! _Fuji Syuusuke doesn't just randomly sit by girls while they are asleep! Fuji Syuusuke doesn't just randomly choose girls to surround him! _Fuji Syuusuke... Fuji Syuusuke... Fuji Syuusuke... _

"Fuji?"

"Un?" he answers calmly, softly, in his molten voice.

I take a deep breath.

"I'd like...to be friends. Sound okay?"

"Sure," he answers. I wonder why I never get tired of seeing that smile. It's almost..._contagious_ now. In fact, I _did _smile.

"Cool!" I reply in English, grinning.

"English?"

He sounds impressed! "Uh-huh." I smile harder. God, I am _such _a dork! "Me, my sister, my mum, and my d---" I swallow.

_My DAD._ I try again, "Me, my sister, my mum, and my _dad---_went there for our vacation one summer."

"Saa," he nods understandingly, "America."

The sun is shining and the clouds and rolling above our heads, setting a perfectly good example of a perfect weather. It illuminated the outline of the hotel, which seems to be not so far away now. We've reached the edge of a cliff and looking down on everything---the trees, the huge blue sky, the buildings. "Wow," I say.

A gush of wind blew across Fuji's face, revealing his clear forehead, which is usually covered by his bangs. He nods in agreement. I suddenly hear a sound that sounded like a camera shot and turned to see Fuji taking pictures of the view.

It's just so weird that all of a sudden, this guy I've terribly loathed is now being my _friend? _What's going on...?

I watch his face, completely focused to looking through the camera lens.

-----------------------------------

Aya hesitated before entering the hotel. "Um!" She turned to Fuji.

"Thank you," she shrugged. "I mean...well...you know what I mean!"

His eyebrows fall in a sad position as he smiles broader. "I think I do."

"R-really?"

He simply nodded. His sleeves creased as he took her arm in his, escorting her into the hotel. As the doors opened, the two examined to see if Seigaku had come back. Nobody was there; the lobby was completely empty, except for the hotel staff. One man in a tidy uniform looked up from his counter and asked with a grin, "Back so soon, lovebirds?"

Aya blushed; Fuji chuckled. Aya tried to laugh, but her loud and warbly laugh came out like a horse's neigh.

All of a sudden, someone entered the hotel.

An Tachibana wore a silky, silver dress that illuminated her face. She looked like she just stepped out of the streets of London, complete with a mock diamond necklace. She smiled at the two, her thin lips clad in sweet lipstick. There was an air of stillness about her, even though she must've moved somehow to enter the hotel.

Her hair swayed as she cocked her head and feigned surprise. "Oh, you guys are back?"

"We're here, aren't we?" Aya tried smiling like An.

The short-haired brunette put a finger to her lips and giggled, her eyes shimmering to match the sparkling dress. Trying to drown out the giggling, Aya eyed her dress and asked, "Why're you dressed like that?"

"You didn't hear about it?" she asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"I'm afraid not."

"The Christmas party, silly."

_Nobody told me about that... _she wanted to kill someone for not telling her, but she stayed quiet, not wanting to give An the satisfactory of being ahead of her.

But An could tell that Aya didn't now anything about a Christmas party. "Didn't Fuji tell you?"

"What?"

This time, she'd truly done it. She couldn't contain her shock and immediately whipped around to face the boy, whose expression was unreadable.

"Didn't you tell her, Fuji? That's a shame that nobody told you," An said, reverting back to Aya. "I asked him if he would come with me, and he agreed."

Perhaps it was the untimely moment that An decided to show up; perhaps that it was Fuji's polite attitude toward An; whatever it was, it left Aya completely baffled and made her twist herself free from his arm and run---not walk, not sprint, not dash, but run---for the stairway, far, far away from any type of living existence, far away from Fuji Syuusuke and An Tachibana, far away from the actual happiness that she was actually starting to feel. If only she had turned back once to steal a glance, she would've seen that Fuji had no idea about anything that was happening or what An was talking about at all, for he was honestly surprised to see her run and his hands gripped together tighter, leaving fingernail marks on his palms.

She bumped into Eiji, Momo, and Miyu in the hallway.

"Oi---"

"Aya-chan!! What're you doing here, nya---"

"Aya, guess what Tezuka-sama---!"

She raced through them, rounded a corner, dashed into her room, and locked the door after her.

-----------------------------------

-Aya-

Here's what happens in a Japanese anime: single girl goes on a winter vacation with gorgeous guy, they share a hot cup of chocolate by the fireside and relate to their dark pasts, realize that they love each other.

Here's what happens in real life: single girl goes on a winter vacation with gorgeous guy, the guy happens to have a soon-to-be female dog girlfriend, the single girl locks herself up in her hotel room.

But I haven't cried. And I don't _feel _like crying. I'm way too exhausted from Lord knows what to cry.

It's currently 6:30 I bet no one's inside the hotel but me. Yeah, I know: why rent a hotel room if you're not going to do anything for your "vacation"? I lie on the bed, grab some chips, and turn on the TV.

_Click._

"Oh, Henry, I've always loved you and I've never doubted you, not even once!"

"Diana! I feel the same way!"

I throw a potato chip at the screen, where the lovers are now crying and kissing under the starlight. I scream, "Wimps! Get a life, will you?? Or you can at least get decent _jobs_! That scarf needs to go back in the trash bin!!"

_Click. _

"On this week's _Shocking Couple, _we're going to hook up this lady right here with a lucky young man---"

_Click._

"Here, the male lion can be seen penetrating the female."

_Click. _

_Click._

_Click!_

I throw the remote control against the floor. "ARGH!! There's absolutely _nothing_ on!!" This calls for plan B: stuff your face with anything you can find. I call room service and wait for the huge platters of ice cream that I've ordered, all the time finishing up the bag of chips. The room service guy enters and stares at me as if I sprouted two heads. I wave him off and as soon as he leaves, I find out that I have _two _perfect relationships: one with Ben, and the other with Jerry.

"Ha," I scoff through a mouthful of food. "Who does she think she is? That idiot attention grabber An Tachibana." Yes, I am very aware that I'm talking to no one. "Thinking she can just pop her head in at any time, then leaving like a breeze... Acting all nice, with that stupid giggle..."

I fling the spoon across the room and use my bare hands as a shovel to spoon up what's left of the dessert. I never knew that I had belly fat, but now that I look at it, I should probably lose some weight. When I first came to Japan, I wanted to look on the bright side and start over; lose weight, become good at sports, possibly even gain a dumb boyfriend... screw it all. I'm going to bed with my one and only source of happiness, chocolate mint ice cream.

Now, I look at the bowls of empty dessert dishes. They're _bothering_ me...how can they look all sparkly and transparent while others are suffering from an overdose of fat?! I must've digested a million calories, and all you idiotic dessert bowls do is just sit there and sparkle?!

_Crash! _

As the ice cream bowl shoots at a wall and splits into two crescent moons, its bits of glass flies across the floor. I cackle evilly at the sound of breaking dishes. Instead of cackling like: "Mua ha ha ha," I choose to take evil to a whole new level and laugh: "Ma ha ha ha!"

How could anyone _do_ this to me?! Have I offended anyone in any way?? Why the freaking _hell _did Fuji Syuusuke have to walk in my life?! Hell-_o?! _God, I'm waiting for an _answer!!!_

_Crash!_Another one broken.

"Ma ha ha ha!"

-

"_Daijobukai?" _

-

_CRASH! _And another.

"Ma ha ha _HA _ha!!"

-

"_You mean 'mine'?"_

-

_CRASH! ---BANG!!--Chlang!! _

-

"_Ano...Minase-san...?"_

-

"Ma ha ha HA _HA HA!!!"_

I must've either sounded really evil or really nasal, because someone starts tapping at my door. I peek through the little hole and I see Eiji Kikumaru standing in the hallway, his childish face pasted with a worried expression. I open the door big enough so that he can see my face but can't enter.

"What do you want?" I try asking this calmly, the excitement of breaking dishes still alive in my adrenaline.

He raises an eyebrow at my voice and stammers, "Hoi...some guests heard noises coming from your room... They said that someone might've been breaking and entering, nya." He stretches his neck to try and see above my head, checking for anything unusual.

"Just breaking," I laugh.

He tries to laugh. He coughs, then asks, "How're you, nya?"

"How _am_ I?" I furrow my brows and smile. "Whatta ya mean?" Before I could even finish saying my sentence, Eiji slips past me and jumps inside my room.

"Eiji!!" I shriek, trying to revert his attention back to me so that he wouldn't notice the broken shards spewed over the carpet.

"What's this?" He peers curiously at a cracked dish on the floor.

"Uh...that's... that's none of your business!"

"What happened between you and Fujiko?"

"Muweh?" That was totally uncalled for! "Why do you ask?"

"You have 'baka Fuji Syuusuke' scribbled on the wall," he says, and sure enough, those words are written all over the top of my bed. I must've grabbed the nearest pen and done it in a flurry of anger, because I can't remember writing them. "The hotel's going to charge you for this... Shizuka sensei will be aaaangry!"

"Could you _please _leave?" I slam the door close and walk in his direction, crushing pieces of broken dishes on my way. "Like, _now?_" I jab my finger at the door. He cocks his head and stares at me.

"So it _is _Fujiko-chan?"

"LEAVE."

"Tell me what happened!"

"I don't want to talk about it, Eiji."

"What did he say, Aya-chan?"

"He said nothing. Nothing happened. I'm fine. Go. _NOW_."

"But you're crying!"

What is it with these people!! Nobody understands me...is that why they don't tell me anything?! They think that I'm just some stupid, clumsy nobody who wants to look like a klutz all the time? Is that why Dad never told me that he had cancer? Is that why nobody told me about some party? "Buh!" My eyes and nose gush as if I've sprung a leak. Clumps of my bangs get in my mouth but I don't brush it away. I stand there, waiting for him to leave, all the while trying to control my sobs. But then the sobs turn into uncontrollable weeping, and it feels like kindergarten where you have to pant every split second. "Pwease g-go."

He smiles at me. "Sorry about the plane," he says.

"What?"

"I should've never done that to you on the airplane. If I had known what was going on between..." His shoulders sag as he shrugs, as if that covered the rest of the sentence. "...Gomen ne."

"Breally?" I sniff and wipe my nose with the back of my hand. "Really?"

He pats my arm. "Breally."

He's in his joking mood by now, and I laugh. I put out a hand, and we shake hands. I got a bit of tears and mucus on his hand, and he wipes it on his shirt afterwards.

-

"_Who the hell is God, Daddy?" _

_He spit out his morning coffee and looks up from his paper. "What did you just say?" _

"_Is God a _smart_ man?" _

"_Oh, He's very smart, with a capital H."_

"_As smart as you?"_

_He ruffles my hair and sets down his mug. "I should think so." _

"_Okay." I grin. "When I grow up, I want to be exactly like God." _

"_You should be like him," my dad nods in agreement. "He's a very, very smart man."_

-

I now know that I have friends after all. Eiji leads me into the hallway, and I see Miyu standing there, holding two shopping bags. Eiji peeks into one of them and shrieks, "NYA!! Women's stuff!!"

Miyu laughs as he runs away. "And don't come back!!"

She turns to me and her eyes suddenly glitter as she peers at my uncovered belly.

"Been eating much?" she asks.

"Oh, _tons._"

"Let's get to work!" She dashes into the room and dumps all the contents of her shopping bags onto my comforter---make-up, dresses, and... Lingerie? "That's only for accessories," she grins.

"Uh-huh," I say. As I listen to her talk about her day with Tezuka ("He actually heard me sneeze!!" "Really? What did he do about it?" "Nothing! He completely ignored me, but that's our first step in our relationship!!"), I nod and smile with her.

I wonder if God is smiling at us too? Smiling and nodding because He, with a capital H, just understands that way? He deserves His name to be capitalized. I want to scream and tell someone that there are some people who truly understand. Just hearing Eiji's apology and seeing Miyu's girly excitement is enough for me to realize that. I don't need someone like Fuji Syuusuke or anyone else to make my life happy.

Miyu finishes the last touch to my dark red dress and adjusts the last straps on my back. "...There. This dress will make your eyes look blazingly copper!"

I look at myself in the mirror, and may I say that I don't look that bad. Not bad at all. My gold earrings dangle as if it's caught in a swift breeze when I link my arm in Miyu's. "We've got a party to go to," I announce, and we walk down like two of the most graceful women who have ever lived, our glossy hair swaying in the night air.

-----------------------------------

Fuji Syuusuke positioned himself more comfortably on the top of the brick wall. People were lingering outside, laughing and chatting, with music playing in the background. He had chosen to remain outside, not caring if it were windy and cold. The full moon shined on his cheeks and he touched them, feeling the coldness of his own skin.

It's a full moon, but the night was dark. There weren't many stars on that night, either. Rather, there was an ominous cloud floating above all of Yamanashiken.

He remembers what An had said to him after Aya ran away.

-

"_Christmas is for lovers, Fuji." _

_-_

Lovers? He couldn't think of An any more than a friend. But _lovers? _The only, _only_ name that pops into his mind when that word is mentioned is...

He jumped off the wall and righted his poise at the sight of the lover. "Minase-san...!"

She smiled. But not a friendly, affectionate smile. It was rather like a polite smile. Her slender finger pointed towards the door. "Aren't you going to go inside, Fuji-san?"

His cheek muscle twitched slightly, but he still kept his smile. _His _usual smile. "Of course."

There was a thundering noise above their heads, and a sudden gust of wind blew at them. Nonetheless, neither was provoked to move. The cloud rolled slowly and heavily, carrying a dreary midst of damp atmosphere with it.

Aya's hair coiled itself on her slender neck, flicking in the wind. Her eyes appeared very copper and intoxicating; her bangles jangled when she raised an arm to stuff her hair behind one ear.

Fuji's own polite smile revealed nothing. "Should we head in?"

"I think we should."

Both of them knew that they weren't going to take off their unrevealing smiles.

* * *

(yawns!) Well, it's about 3 in the morning... but I had fun writing this chapter! Comments? Reviews? Thank you for reading, see you next time!! (falls asleep) 


	8. Cry

The eighth chapter!! I hope you guys like this one! Oh, but don't blame me if I don't know how a Walkman works. I don't know how it works, but I'm going to pretend that you can connect it to a sound system to play the music aloud.

**FEATURED SONG:**"Cry" by Faith Hill. If you haven't heard it yet, you can go search for it on YouTube or I can e-mail it for you if you'd like. (Hey, who wouldn't turn down free music??)

**Vocabulary:**

"Tomare" - It's like "stop" or "stop it" in Japanese.

The first half is told from the third POV, and after "Cry" starts playing, it will be from the third person's POV again.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Hazed. Aya Minase's usual red eyes have turned hazed, like smog. Her mind was utterly blank, too, and she thought of absolutely nothing as she stared out the airplane window. It's the day after the dance, and Seigaku had bordered a plane, going back to Tokyo.

The long, winter nightmare was over.

At the dance, things sort of became tangled—girls rushed over towards Fuji, various drinks swishing in their cups that they held, hopeful about offering the tensai a drink. Nothing exactly happened. No romance, no fires, no kisses or tears of regret. Nothing. That seemed like the perfect word to describe the recent situation. Nothing changed but a certain pair of people's attitudes toward each other.

Miyu shuffled and sat next to Aya. She wasn't sure if her blank-looking friend was all right. "That was some boring night, huh?" she beamed, trying to start a positive conversation. "I mean, they didn't even have music. I'm glad this trip is over, don't you think?"

Aya nodded, eyeing the clouds.

"Um. ...What's wrong?"

She smiled and tried to make a joke about Fuji and herself: "He dumped me," she wanted to say, but it came out: "Dummy."

It wasn't that they were a couple in the beginning, anyhow. But nothing happened. Aya wanted _something _to happen, so it wouldn't feel like eternity. Just say that you have nothing to do with me, get it over with, so I can move on with my life. In a way, this getaway will haunt her for a long time, because Fuji didn't say anything, and she sure as hell isn't going to say anything back unless he does first. And since nothing happened, Fuji's not someone important anymore.

"Hey, I'm just worried! I'm not _dumb_," Miyu huffed proudly, taken aback by the insult. "I'm on the honor roll."

"What's Fuji doing right now?"

"Eh? Oh. Um..." Miyu looked back, trying to find Fuji.

Fuji Syuusuke was sitting with the regulars and a crowd of girls was starting to gather around, listening in on their conversations.

He is still smiling.

"He's sitting with his friends."

"Ha!" Aya scoffed, smirking to herself. That came out involuntarily, like a sneeze. Fuji's sitting with his friends, like he always does.

Soon, a chaperone stood at the front of the aisle and shouted at the students to shut up. She announced that they would land in Tokyo in about 15 minutes. "Everyone secure their seatbelts! You!" she pointed at the fan-girls crowding in the backseat, "Disperse!"

Miyu stared at Aya, then stared at the smiling Fuji, then stared at the giggling fan-girls. She stared back at Aya again. "Those girls don't have decent lives and shouldn't hang around Fuji all the time," she said, trying to make Aya feel better. "I'm glad you're not like one of those fan-girls."

Aya smiled faintly, then stared back into the window again.

----------------------

"Thank God you're home!!"

Aoi rushed up to Aya as soon as she stepped through the door of their home. "Ma is a _mess!_" she whispered loudly, shaking her little sister by her shoulders.

"What's wrong with her?" Aya asked, pushing her away.

"Re_-member_?" Aoi gave her a look of disgust mixed with sympathy. "Dad's...death anniversary is tomorrow!"

"I didn't forget."

"So _do _something! I'll take care of Ma—you go out and buy flowers for him!"

She pushed her outside and slammed the door in Aya's face. The wind howled slightly as skeletal leaves brushed on the sidewalk. OK, it hadn't been 30 seconds since Aya was finally home, and she was once again pushed outside. _Way to be welcomed back,_ Aya thought sarcastically. She turned on her heels and started to walk to the nearest flower shop, not that she actually knew where she was going. School was going to start in another week, and she's got to enjoy the rest of her break. She made plans in her mind, maybe hang out with Miyu at her place tomorrow. For some reason, as she walked, she didn't think of her father as she should, but she thought of Fuji.

_The pretty boy, _she thought, eyes narrowing. _He's got silkier hair than me. How is that possible? _

Have you ever heard of a good-riddance list? A good-riddance list was supposed to contain all of the bad qualities in a guy, and Aya wanted to make one for Fuji, because she can't get him out of her mind. "Might as well get it over with," Aya said, hopeful that after she made the list, he'd get out of her head. The sun was still high in the sky, and Aya took a piece of blue chalk that was in the sidewalk and scribbled, _Stupid hair! _on the sidewalk. _Always calling me by –san. What a jerk-off!_

_He probably uses hand lotion!_

_Smiles all the time. Can you spell "annoying"?_

_Moronic ass_

"Ha!" Aya smiled, satisfied with the list so far. She read and reread the list, adding, _Friends with giggly twit. _She threw what was left of the chalk on the ground, then grinded it up with her feet, turning the bottom of her white flip-flops blue. She was going to have to make a new list when she gets home. "Good riddance."

_It isn't so much that I'm angry at Fuji, _she thought. _But since I'll never talk to him again, I might as well enjoy making fun of him. He's a nobody to me now. _

Aya resumed her walking. She dug inside her shorts pocket to find her Walkman and jammed the headphones over her ears. It's no use thinking about some pretty boy with silky hair. Focus on getting your precious father flowers.

_Father. _Aya's pace slowed when she lowered the volume; she was listening to heavy metal—this broke her heart—because her dad used to be in a rock band before he went to law school. They never played outside of that small town, though, so the world never saw what they could do. His band's biggest gig was playing at the grand opening of a theme park in a city, but they never played after that, because his tumor was growing worse—and the next thing you know, he transferred from the hospital to a graveyard.

She missed him more than ever now. She needed him now. To soothe her hair and play her a soft song on his guitar and say it's going to be all right, you're going to make it through.

He was childish, but he was artistic, and that made an impression on her.

The grocery store came into clear view, and a floral shop could be seen two building down. She dashed for it.

"Ohayo," she panted, slamming through the door and making the doorbell ring loudly. "I need flowers. Doesn't matter what kind."

A teenage girl who was hoisting a magazine with one hand stood behind the counter. She held a finger to her lips when she saw Aya, a message to stay quiet, for she was on the phone. "Uhn-huh. Uhn-huh. Like, I _know,_" she snapped into the phone. A firm voice from the other line said a few words, sounding very angry. She snapped the phone shut on him, irritated, but then put on a so-it-goes smile when she faced Aya.

"My boyfriend. You know how they are," she said, shaking her head.

"Oh, I totally know what you mean..."

_...if I only had one. _

Once Aya was outside with a dozen lilies sitting in her lap, she crossed and re-crossed her legs. She should probably go home, set the flowers by her father's memorial, with the burning incense prickling her nostrils and the blurry photograph of him smiling at her. Olive skin; thick, dark hair. But she didn't want to think about it.

_Let's go for a walk, _her feet insisted, _and don't worry about going back home. Just walk. _

She walked aimlessly into Tokyo, stopping by once or twice under a tree by the freeway to stare at frisky squirrels plowing their way through a retreating horde of pigeons, both species wanting to get their share of the spilled breadcrumbs that littered the opposite side of the street. She bought a latte at a café, but as soon as she took one sip, she lost her appetite and gave it to a guy who was selling CDs on a piece of discarded clothing. He took it gratefully. She went into the nearby mall, staring at the latest line of spring skirts on display, making tapping noises on the glass with her fingers. She exited into the parking lot, still feeling blank. What was it exactly that she wanted to do? She ruled out going to the park; it was a Saturday, and she had heard from Miyu that Saturday was the day when many cuddly couples held hands and walked along the rim of the lake together. Ugh.

Aya was supposed to write her father's eulogy on the day of his funeral. She was too short for the microphone and had to lower it, making it squeal. The gathered guests smiled a little at this, tears streaming down their windburned faces. Aya was nervous at first.

--

"My name is Aya Minase, and I am Daichi Minase's daughter. We are gathered here today to mourn."

Faint laughter.

"He was a great father, a great friend, a great person. I loved him, and always will."

There were small nods and smiles of agreement. One of her dad's band members, the one who played the drums, blew his nose in a handkerchief.

"I liked his songs that he played for me if I were upset."

--

Night came, and the bright sky turned pink, then turned black. The city soon sparkled alive with lights. Aya stuck her hands inside her pockets and trudged on, kicking aluminum cans on the street.

It wasn't long before she came upon the street tennis place.

Aya thought she heard faint laughter from those courts and the sound of tennis balls in the air. She lingered below, staring up at the long flight of stairs and the bright white light. She wasn't going to go up there. She turned to leave when she recognized a girl's giggle in the faint air.

Aya had lost her mind—she was walking up the pathway to the courts. The light got brighter and she could see the edges of the green court now. The voices were also getting louder by each step. Is _An _there? Is _Seishun _there? What was she going to say when she got up there? What was going to happen once she got up there? Would everyone turn and see her approach? Would they just ignore her and continue with what they're doing up there?

"Shit!" she cussed, realizing that one of her flip-flops broke. There was nothing she could do to fix it, so she just abandoned it on the stairs. She can almost imagine what An has to say about it:_ Just why are you wearing _one _shoe? _

The light soon turned yellowish, and she realized that there was a _bonfire_—a Japanese festival? She squinted her eyes once she was at the top of the stairs, the light and a flying tennis ball dropped to the ground and rolled to the tip of her feet. With a gasp, she quickly hid the shoeless foot behind the other and looked around to see if anyone noticed her yet.

She spotted a hooting Momo in the crowd. Heart stoppage—if Momo was here, then the rest of the Seishun tennis team had to be here, too. And what looked like Fudomine was here. But the most mind-blowing thing was that there seemed like a hundred other boys and a few girls that she didn't know were there, all wearing kimonos. Talking, laughing, eating, having fun by a bonfire. They were all _not _on the courts, but were crowding _around _the courts, in the grass, watching the current game. A boy with red hair banged on the drums. Aya was still in the shadows; no one saw her.

"Next up—Momoshiro from Seishun and Jiroh from Hyotei!"

A lot of cheering and murmuring went through the crowd. All eyes were on the two boys who were entering the court, peeling off their kimonos, revealing a layer of T-shirts and sports shorts underneath. They both looked pretty determined. Oh, the mysterious stranger—Atobe—is here, too? Aya noticed him sitting on a chair, crossing one leg over the other with a tall, bulky guy standing next to him. He was smirking. So, everybody must know everybody here, don't they? The drums in the background raised a tempo; the little match was about to begin.

"I've got it!" called a voice, suddenly. Momo.

The next thing Aya knew, the spotlight was on Momo, who was dashing towards the tennis ball.

Aya held her breath when the boys turned to see who the outsider was.

A roar went through the crowd. A duck-billed boy was the first one to exclaim: "Kawaii dane!"

"Who is she? I think I've seen her hang outside of Seigaku once."

"I've never seen her here before."

Murmurs spread through them all in just one second. "Aya-chan!" Eiji, with a caramel apple in his mouth, exclaimed. But she kept her eyes on one boy in particular, who has not noticed her and was talking with another guy, two fingers placed rationally on his chin.

You guessed it—Seishun's very famous tennis prodigy and the 2nd best player on the tennis team, Fuji.

Aya was just deciding whether she'd stick around or start walking away when she heard a girl's voice call her name.

It seemed like An grew prettier every time Aya saw her, whether if she's wearing a pink miniskirt or an evening gown. She emerged from the crowd, her small figure clad in another fabulous outfit: a silky pink kimono that was decorated with sakura pedals. She wore two matching pink burettes on her smooth hair with butterflies at the tip, and her bangs bobbed when she placed one hand on her waist, her manicured nails making a V-shaped imprint on the fabric. Surprisingly enough, she looked surprised to see Aya. "What are you doing here?"

Aya was still clutching the lilies behind her back, the Walkman earphones still ringing with Western music. She removed them from her ears; Momo stepped aside when the two faced each other.

Aya could see An studying her outfit: crème shorts, a black tank top, and, when An raised a small eyebrow when looking down at her feet, Aya cringed. As for her make-up and accessories, Aya only had a bit of eyeliner, a silver choker, and a hair band on her wrist. Nothing too glamorous compared to An, who looked like she could pull it off as a kimono model. "Um, I was just passing by," Aya said, trying not to wriggle her toes.

"So...do you want to join us? We got a permit for the bonfire," An said, nodding at the fire.

Most of the guys have lost interest and have started to talk again. Aya gripped the lilies tighter and smiled. "Oh, that's okay. I was just...on my way somewhere."

"Where?"

"Stay with us, Aya-chan!" Eiji waved at her. "It'll be fun, nya!"

"Uh..." Aya brushed her bangs behind her ear. Where? She was on her way to nowhere, to speak the truth. But suddenly, music—soft, J-pop music—started playing in the air, and now everybody was standing up.

"An?" Momo interrupted, his cheeks flushed. He looked around as if someone might hear what he was going to say. "Would you...?" He nodded toward the crowd, catching a glimpse of a stumbling Sakuno in the arms of Ryoma, slow-dancing. His cheeks flushed as he shrugged.

"Uh..." Her stammer hanged in the air. The silence was deadly. "I'm really sorry, but--"

Momo's shoulders dropped.

"—I've already asked Fuji." Her cheeks flushed: "It's just that...I really like him."

----------------------

-Aya-

I know that I swore to myself to never get discouraged, to be strong after my father's untimely death, but as much as I tried to control myself, I watched An with great intensity when she stammered in front of Momo, trying to explain about her crush, alias the guy that I truly _despise_.

"It's just that..." She bowed her head, blushing. "I really like him."

I have been really psycho these days, but in spite of all the craziness, what I did next was totally unheard of to any therapist: I _laughed. _A heavy, heartfelt, psychotic laugh that was not at all attractive, like An's giggle. It wasn't at all like the Ben & Jerry laugh, either. Instead, it was more mindless and utterly unstoppable.

_Oh, An, you don't say! You_ like_ Fuji? Yeah, that was a tough one to figure out, don't you think? _

Craziness isn't something you'd use to describe me, but tonight, after An revealed her crush about Fuji, it seemed like all of the world stopped. I didn't care what others thought of me at this moment, because they are not there. They don't know anything. I think I have the right to say what I thought, which was, in case you needed a recap: I said, "Oh, you don't say! You _like _Fuji? Yeah, that was a tough one to figure out, don't you think?"

I smiled. Sweetly.

She abruptly turned to me, bangs clashing on her cheeks. "_What?_" she hissed.

"I mean, I had absolutely no idea! It's such a surprise to find out that you _like_ him, you know? Because you never _did_ anything about it." You've never, ever done anything that showed the slightest clue that you wanted Fuji in your clutches, such as planning an entire getaway for us and then telling everyone except me that you threw a little love fest on Christmas Eve.

Momo stepped back, much, much further back. More eyes were on me again. I could feel—not see, but literally _feel_—Fuji's open eyes, piercing and surprised.

"Gosh, An, you probably think I'm dumb, don't you?" I didn't let her answer and let her mouth hang open while I blurted, "It's like, what can a girl like _me _do? Could I open a bottle of water by myself? Can I _dress_ myself in the morning?"

I opened my arms to show her my outfit. She was still scowling but seemed to be in shock that I was, for once, standing up for myself. I then lifted my knee, now loving the fact that I wasn't wearing a shoe on that foot. She glared at it and then glared at me.

The slow dance was interrupted. My fake smile was now replaced by a frown. My expression showed pure dislike that God probably hadn't intended on inventing for the human race. "Can I fucking dress myself in the morning?" I could feel the bystanders' shock in the air as the background music picked up another tempo. Satin must be so proud of me right now.

"Stop with the music!" An snapped. The music immediately stopped.

"That's okay!" I chirped. "Play the music. The festivities can't stop 'cause of stupid me. Hey, you know what?" I walked up to where the music came from, in the midst of all the chatter and whispering. My hands hovered around my Walkman earphones before I plugged it in the stereo system.

"You guys wanna hear a bit of Western culture?"

I cranked up the volume and hard rock overtook the atmospheric Japanese air.

"What are you _doing_?!" An tried pushing past me to unplug the music, but I held my ground. Her glistening lips were heavy with pink lip-gloss. "You're ruining everything!!"

_Me? _I'm _ruining everything? Wasn't it _you _who made me feel like an idiot ever since the moment I met you? Wasn't it _you_ who always butted into my new life, which was once actually eager at the thought of starting over? Wasn't it _you _who's always ruining everything?! _

I pursed my lips and watched An's face turn red with anger.

"This is all your--!!"

_Rustle._

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she bolted around.

The next few seconds were the longest that I could remember. My brain whirred a hundred miles a minute, trying to recall a time when time moved so slowly that I could barely stand because my head was thumping so hard. I couldn't. Because Fuji's face was so unreadable, with his eyes open and his mouth in a small frown. "An-chan," he said, looking down at her. The cackling light from the bonfire made a shadow on his forehead and casting a shade of orange and red on his face. His glowing cerulean eyes stood out more than ever. A white sports shirt peeked from under his navy blue kimono.

"Tomare," he said.

I also tried to remember when was the last time I'd seen him. Was it on the plane? Or was it _off_ the plane, when I was at baggage claim? He didn't matter to me during the last day of our time in Yamanashiken, when I decided that I didn't need him in any way, shape, or form. He didn't matter to me when I saw him at the party and called him Fuji-san without sputtering or screaming or crying. He didn't matter to me when I was staring out the window on the plane, the clouds reflecting off my colorless eyes. Come on, he's a _nobody_.

But I wasn't half as sure now.

"It's all her fault, Fuji!! Look at what she's doing, just strumming in here _uninvited_," she said, stretching the emphasis on the word _uninvited_ as if it meant something worse than just _not welcome._ "She's _always_ _ruining everything!!_"

My heart surged. I wasn't so insane now, and I wanted to explain to her and to everyone that I wasn't here to ruin their night, but An spun around before I could say anything, her attention back on me.

"Have you even noticed how _weird_ you act around Fuji-kun? You're always running away or stuttering or being upset about something completely stupid! Don't you know that Fuji-kun doesn't like you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking both confused and irritated at the same time. I ignored Fuji and focused on An.

I tried to ignore Fuji and focus on An, because, truth be told: "Fuji-kun doesn't like you." My reaction to this was a phenomenon! Because at _that_ statement, even if it's only a little bit, it _shot through my fucking heart. _

"You heard what I said! We're together now, and there's nothing you can do or say about it!!"

They're together? My eyes started shimmering and suddenly I was seeing stars crawl up An's kimono and on the trees around me. I knew ever since I was back to Tokyo and got off that plane that Fuji didn't like me, I really did. But I didn't know that he liked An either. In all the ways that he'd hurt me so far, all leading up to when he betrayed me when he didn't tell me about the stupid party, didn't hurt me as much as finding out that An and Fuji got together. I've seen a ton of fan-girls around him and he'd never flirted with any of them, so, here I am—naïve and not knowing that Fuji is actually a boy with hormones, that he'd be interested in girls like every other boy. It's as if I don't know him at all.

I looked irritated and spat, "Could you please shut _up _and tell me what--"

"Are you really that stupid?! He doesn't like you, Aya—"

"WHAT DO YOU _MEAN?!_"

Moisture gathered at the corners of my eyes, mounding one on top of the other, daring to pour out. _Please, no, not now! Not here! _I blinked. _Anywhere but here! _The music on my Walkman had already finished, and I was afraid that without the loud music, people would draw attention to my eyes now.

She scowled, and said something so hurtful that, for the first time in my life, I've never felt so caught off-guard and couldn't even remember those words clearly. The teardrop felt itchy against my skin and salty when it fell from my lips and into my mouth.

"No wonder her father left her."

I wanted to die.

I clutched the lilies to my chest and walking out of that horrible place. Not running, but walking, and my footsteps echoes in my chest. I pass An, I pass Fuji.

Okay, so who really cares that I found myself naively being friends with the boy I'll never understand? Who cares that I can't face Fuji or even An anymore? Who cares that my father is dead? Nobody cares that I'm alone. First, it's my dad, and the friend that I thought I knew turned out to be somebody...totally different.

I just know that An is smirking when she says, "Oh, she's leaving. Isn't that a shame?"

I scratched the back of my hand against my cheek.

_Idiot! no crying! _I scolded myself, but the tears just kept dropping faster. Once it starts, you can't stop it; it's always been the same since kindergarten. You revive yourself from the numb state of shock to realize that it really does hurt to speak the truth. It _was _all my fault that my father died. I shouldn't have been so whiny about being clumsy and not having a boyfriend. He practically had to sing songs and brush the hair away from my face and make me hot chocolate every weekend, for chrissake!

What kind of daughter am I?

_The always-tripping-on-everything, gaining-two-hundred-pounds-over-a-single-night-due-to-obsession-with-Ben-&-Jerry kind. _

I was really tired of this Fuji crap.

But I hadto have one last revenge on An, who is now fully back into that bitch mode I _despised_.

I dropped the bouquet of lilies, snapped my hips around, and slapped An right across the face.

"_KYAAAHH--!!_" she screamed, staggering back, clutching her bleeding nose. My hand vibrated from the force of my slap. I stuck out my tongue.

"A-An-chan!!" Momo rushed forward to help her. A few other boys that I have never met rushed forward, too.

"Are you okay?!"

"Your nose is bleeding!"

"Who _is _this crazy girl?!"

They started rumors about me, about how I was a lunatic, right in front of my face. I heard, "I hear her mother's a widow," and "Her sister' goes to my brother's high school. She admitted that she used to be a dropout." I just smiled. I knew, I _knew, _that I was going to start crying once I left this place, but I couldn't let them see me cry right now. I proudly steadied my shaking body and tried to rush energy back inside me.

"You can't call me a crazy girl," I said, "because my dad's a lawyer, and he could sue your sorry ass right out of this country."

I have never said anything so wrong in front of so many people. The throbbing of my head was in unison with the beat of my voice and the rock in the background. Somebody suddenly unplugged the stereo and the music stopped. Without the beat, it was a whole lot more to bring in the reality, but being the lady that I always am, I gracefully turned around and walked away from the shocked boys.

"'Bye!" I called. Nobody said anything back; that was exactly how I'd anticipated it.

Once I made it to the bottom of the stairs and into the shadows, I wiped my eyes with my shirt and started to make my way home. But when I tried to move my feet, a hand gripped my arm and pulled me back. The back of my head bumped into the person's chest.

"_Hey!!_" I bellowed.

Okay, I really don't need this right now. I know that these guys are really angry with me for hitting their friend, but I don't think they know my side of the story. I'm not the mean one! I'm the better person here. I don't think I've ever hit anyone on purpose and I certainly wasn't going to be that low. But up there, that was when I've truly gotten enraged—they had to stretch the truth and push me so hard that I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to do and the only thing I had in mind was to knock that An off her feet, and, if Fuji was still standing next to her, I think I would've hit him, too.

But, thinking about it rationally, I don't think this is reality. This is a Jdorama, like a Japanese drama show that I should be watching from the comfort of my sofa. The main character would be someone who can make it on time in her first day of school, some girl who doesn't trip over twigs and can giggle in the girlish way. She would be pretty and have a supermodel-like, skinny body because she doesn't have the tendency to consume two hundred gallons of ice cream. She'd fall in love with a good-looking Japanese dude who'd look like Aiba Hiroki and they'd elope together and spend their honeymoon in the countryside after their secretive, romantic wedding that took place in the midnight rain.

I look into the face of the assaulter, feeling like screaming again. It was dark outside, but not dark enough for the night to cover those fluorescent blue orbs that I was staring into.

He spoke. I recognized my name:

"Minase-san."

_Thu-thump._

The stranger drew me into a breathless kiss.

_**If I had just one tear running down your cheek**_

_**Maybe I could cope, maybe I'd get some sleep**_

_**If I had just one moment at your expense **_

_**Maybe all my misery would be well **_

**_Spent_**

**_Yeah_**

Fuji clutched Aya's arms at her sides so she couldn't make an attempt to run. The cool wind blew the hair off of the two's foreheads, and Aya pulled back, inhaling the sharp air through her hot lips.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" she said. She tried wrestling her arms out of his hold.

It was her first kiss, and _he _had to steal it from her.

_**Could you cry a little?**_

_**Lie just a little**_

_**Pretend that you're feeling a little more pain**_

_**I gave, now I'm wanting **_

_**Something in return**_

_**So cry just a little for me**_

"I kissed you." Even though Fuji's body appeared small, they were very strong, and Aya found it hard to get away from him, her shoulders cringing. But he let go soon enough.

Her face felt hot. "I don't like you like that!!"

_**If your love could be caged**_

_**Honey, I would hold the key**_

_**And conceal it underneath the pile of lies you handed me**_

_**And you'd hunt those lies**_

_**They'd be all you'd ever find**_

_**And that'd be all you'd have to know**_

_**For me to be **_

**_Fine_**

**_Yeah_**

She ran a safe distance away from him and turned around.

Now, with tears now pouring and illuminating under the limelight, and shouted back: "I don't like you, Fuji!! And I never will!!" She closed her eyes and screamed, "Because after all this time, you're still toying with me!"

"Minase-san is..."

_**And you'd cry a little**_

_**Die just a little**_

_**And baby, I would feel just a little less pain**_

_**I gave, now I'm wanting**_

_**Something in return **_

_**So cry just a little for me**_

"...the person who I really like."

Fuji's eyes were serious and deafening, without a trace of a smile on his face.

She heard something, and wondered for an instant if she had screamed before she turned and fled.

_**Give it up, baby**_

_**I hear you're doing fine**_

_**Nothing's gonna save me**_

_**I can see it in your eyes**_

_**Some kind of heartache,**_

_**Honey, give it a try**_

Still running, running, running to nowhere, the one flip-flop making it harder for her to run. She kicked if off and kept running.

Minase-san is the person who I really like.

_**I don't want pity, I just want what is**_

_**Mine**_

_**Yeah**_

_...The person who I really like..._

Please don't lie to me. Aya stopped running, out of breath. She gasped for air, but mucus and spit clogged at her throat, and it felt like she couldn't breathe, like when you're in kindergarten and you're wailing uncontrollably that you can't stop to attempt to breathe.

Please don't lie to me, because it hurts.

_**Could you cry a little?**_

_**Lie just a little**_

_**Pretend that you're feeling **_

_**A little more pain**_

_**I gave now I'm wanting**_

_**Something in return**_

_**So cry just a little for me**_

_**Yeah**_

She panted, and thought she heard a stray cat knock a garbage can onto the street. Aya looked up and her eyes immediately widened. That _has _to be a hallucination, a fucking hallucination that's messing with her already-messed-up mind. It has to be Grief working its way through her brain, its breath sour, wrapping its sticky arms around her neck and breathing into her ear.

Standing next to a pole, the silhouette of Daichi Minase was seen, wearing his faded jeans and his white button-down that he always wore.

He smiled over his glasses and took them off, motioning her to sit as he did himself.

_Hell,_ Aya rubbed her eyes and managed to smile. Father or hallucination, this was a blessing. _Just for this one night, I think I got the permit to be crazy..._ Aya slowly approached him. She laid her head on his knees.

_**Cry just a little for me**_

_**Woo, ooh**_

_**Could you cry a little for me?**_

The smell of his cotton shirt slowed Aya's gasping and pretty soon, she closed her eyes and dozed off. She dreamed of the day after the funeral, when all the mourners left her house. How she wished that her dad had lived. How she wished on that her dad's shoes wouldn't start coating with dust or that his toothbrush wouldn't start growing hard and dry on the cup by the sink.

_**...Yeah, yeah...**_

_...I think I've got the permit to be crazy tonight. _

* * *

So, how was it? I especially had fun making up this chapter because I could relate to Aya. And I'm just curious to know...have you ever cried like that, when you wail like a kindergartener, unable to gasp between cries? I think I've cried like that only once in my life. 

Remember to review, ne?

Love you guys!!!

lUvRaCcI!


	9. Soapsuds

A/N: Oh my goodness. After almost nine months, I have finally updated _Fairytales! _I'll admit that it was due to a mix of writer's block, schoolwork, and other things that distracted me from getting any writing done. I wrote two other editions before settling with this one. Thanks to all the readers for the patience! Sorry for the delay, but the show must go on!

(Note: some of the story is told from Aya's point of view. If it is, it will be indicated; otherwise, it is told in third-person POV.)

* * *

Chapter 9: Soapsuds

_Aya's P.O.V._

I'll bet he's thinking about it.

The girl who sits to the right of me, Ritsuko-what's-her-name, keeps looking at the back of Fuji's head instead of at her test. She's new—just transferred before winter break—but she's falling for him pretty quickly. Occasionally, she gathers her guts and steals a look at me, probably because: A) I am her neighbor, or B) she might think that _I_ have a crush on him. If the latter was the case, by my word, she'll be damned.

I'm staring at his shoulders; they are tilted as he takes his test. I definitely know he's not concentrating on the problems. Definitely. He's thinking about it.

The kiss.

The kiss was a heart-stopping, quick meeting of his lips. I remember thinking that I should blink to let the moisture roll out, but his face swarmed up and grew in size like a big movie screen. Then there was no music, no Dad, no An, no Seigaku, no Japan, nothing but him. On impact, the corners of my mouth twitched. Heart stoppage. It had probably taken just one second, but it felt like a whole minute.

When he told me that he liked me—with those magic words, my heart came back to life and collided with my ribs.

_Good grief, concentrate on the test. _Although I knew right from wrong, I continued to stare at him. Looking at him now, it feels impossible that this guy sitting in front of me was that boy who kissed me. Three days after the horrendous retreat from the Underworld, I was beginning to sink into that lull of everyday school life. We haven't said a word to each other; I knew he would've liked to, but I'm not going to let him. In an environment that was both big and small, Seigaku made both of us act like nothing was different.

To top it off, there were rumors. When I looked up, the teacher was pointing at me and nodding.

I pointed to myself questioningly. "Me?"

"You're wanted in the principal's office."

"Hai."

I got out of my chair and walked across the room just like any other day. I'm not positive, but if I were Fuji, I'd stare at myself retreat. At the principal's office, it turns out that I was to be put under kitchen and cleaning duty for the rest of the semester for punching Tachibana An in the nose, and that the school has no tolerance for violence, and they're enjoying my punishment as much as I do, do I understand? I nodded yes.

"We've notified your mother about this already," she said. "You can start tomorrow."

"Okay." As soon as I was out of there, I locked myself inside a bathroom stall. Nowadays I just carry an eye pencil in my pocket, so it was safe to cry a little. I blotted tears from my cheeks and just stood there for a minute. It could've been any one of those idiot bystanders who tattled to the principal. But the school understands nothing, and now I was being punished for it.

I came back just when a new math lesson was starting. I took my seat and watched the teacher write down math formulas on the board until school was over.

...

Miyu was wearing a tight yellow sweater and white capris when she visited me after school. I was washing the blackboard in my dirty uniform and gave her a big grin.

"That looks like fun," she said, grimacing at the bucket by my feet. It was filled with brown water.

"Yeah, it's totally fulfilling. You wanna get in on some of it?"

"_Ha!_ No, thanks." But right after she said that, she helped me anyway. She cleverly dodged around The Topic, and talked a lot about nothing. Finally she said, "I heard a rumor that An and Fuji are going out."

"It took you a while to catch on," I said, not sounding bitter at all. In fact, I was even amused by her timidness. Did she think I was going to burst into tears?

"Well, I didn't hear from you all weekend. When were you going to tell me?" She nudged me.

"I just wanted to know how widespread the rumor was. Does everyone know?"

"Um, yeah, basically everyone. I'm so—I feel really bad, Aya."

"Miyu, it doesn't matter. Let everyone think what they wanna think." I threw the sponge into the bucket and observed my work. "This place looks spotless, don't you think? I think I'll just go home. Hey, do you want to get some ice cream with me?"

"Wait, Aya..." She looked at me, more nervous than ever before, wrenching the sponge in her hands even though no water came out.

"What?" I asked.

"I, um, I was at tennis practice this morning. I was there with a couple of other girls—and I snuck over to the club room to see Tezuka-sama. What I saw instead was...Tachibana and Fuji-kun, and...they, I think they..." At this point, she broke out in hives.

"Were they saying something bad?"

"Saying?" Her eyebrows scrunched together. I get the feeling this is a lot worse than just gossiping about me. "They weren't saying anything."

"But they were...?" I made circling hand motions to urge her.

"It's nothing, really. They just looked like a couple, that's all." She dipped her sponge in the bucket and started scrubbing vigorously. "I didn't believe the rumor at first, but you know, I guess this is really real. It shocked me to hell, I just thought I should let you know."

Listening to her talk, an image of An and Fuji holding hands came into my mind. There was a pang and I quickly forgot how to inhale. Damn! Usually, I was pretty good at seeing these things coming and preventing them. Today, just when I thought I was stronger, the "new" me turned out to be a figment of my imagination. I quickly chased the image away.

Feeling guilty by my silence, she continued with strained optimism, "It's actually pretty silly. Maybe I was just imagining it."

"It's okay."

"I don't blame you if you're upset at me."

"Miyu, of course I'm not. Will you stop sweating? C'mon, I wanna catch the bus before it leaves."

She seemed to buy it, and smiled gratefully. "Okay, then. I heard my friend mentioning about this water-ice parlor..."

My brain drowned her out. It was as if Happy threw itself out the window and Sadness, Self-Pity, and Hideous waltzed through the front door in unison. However, just as all the in-the-moment drama did, the feeling came and passed. My breathing rate returned to normal, and I tuned back to my loudmouth friend. "Eh? Oh, you were still talking."

"Heh, that's not insulting at all," she said sarcastically.

...

"Syuusuke, could you come down here for a second," called Fuji Yumiko. She was doing paperwork and was currently holding a manila folder in her hands, staring at the papers when Fuji appeared, wiping his hands on a dirty towel. He said, "I was just finishing the shelving on my cabinet. What is it, nee-san?"

"Do you know these girls?" she asked, holding up a wallet-sized photo of the sisters that he knew so well. Caught off guard for a moment, he dropped the cloth on the floor, then bent over to pick it up. He examined the picture again.

"The silver-haired one was parked in front of me at your school." She pointed to Aya. "And this one definitely goes to Seigaku. Do both of them go to your school?"

"Not the older one," he said, not taking his eyes off the photo. "Why...do you have a picture of them?"

"Their mother is one of my clients this week. She says she just moved here and wanted her husband's papers. He died almost exactly a year ago, so I don't know why she waited this long to take care of it." She removed the paperclip from the documents.

"Exactly a year ago?"

"You see, here," she said, pointing to the tiny numbers on the sheet. "December 28, 2006. Sabishii ne, only three days after Christmas."

"Souka," he said quietly. "I didn't know that." Abruptly, he had an urge to touch his lips. His fingertips wavered in the air, right in front of his face, but then his sister turned to look at him so he placed them on his chin.

"We get cases like these quite often and I knew these girls looked familiar, but I suppose you don't know much about them." She stacked the papers neatly and put them back in the folder. "Syuusuke? Syuusuke!"

He looked up. "Hai?"

"The picture, please," she said, holding out her hand. He handed it back. She continued, "I'm going to go pick Yuuta up from the gym. I'll be back before dinner." She grabbed the car keys and pushed the chair in.

As soon as she was out of sight, he went to the backyard and turned on the hose. He held the tap water up to his face and stood calmly as the water crawl from his jaw and into his shirt. What had he done? What had he wanted to do when he kissed her? It was suddenly impossible to tell. He stood there, feeling as if he had just ran a mile, the sheer thought of what he did last week making his heart stop. He dropped the hose by his feet. It was the dead of winter and the winds were coming in; the gutters on the roof rattled and dripped melted snow.

However, there _was _one thing that he noticed right away. Aya wasn't like the fan-girls who talked to him; it might've been because she was raised in a different country, but her attitude was refreshing. Almost, he might say, weirdly charming. She was half-Japanese, but he could instantly tell that she came from the mainland because she was taller than most of the girls. And unlike An, she wore her hair past her waist. She was exceptionally tan, not too dark and not too pale, and probably came from a very hot climate. Her laugh, although she rarely laughed around him (and he didn't know why), was another quality that he liked.

But there was something about her that he liked so much—even more than just the strange magnetism—and he couldn't place it. A thought hit him: it's possible that she really did not like him back. Definitely, that could be a possibility.

The thought of that made him turn the water on again.

* * *

_Aya's P.O.V._

I turned the tap on, and threw my uniform into the laundry basket. The one good thing about Japan is that the typical bathroom consists of two rooms, an entrance room where you undress and the real bathroom that is equipped with a majestically _deep_ bathtub. I showered while waiting for the tub to fill, and soon I was soaking the day off in the mini-pool. I recounted the events of the day.

By the time I got home, it was ten-thirty and as always, Aoi wasn't home and Ma was asleep. I didn't want to go back to my bedroom. It was bare and unfurnished, containing no real furniture and one lump of mattress. And tons of cardboard boxes. I recalled when I would try to fill the tub in Beijing, but to no avail; it barely came up to my knees.

I closed my eyes. By doing so, I could almost hear the other sounds of my apartment: my mom talking on the phone with her sister in the hallway, my father watching TV in the living room. I even visually _saw_ the back of her sister, her hair naturally black, laying out tomorrow's outfit on her bed.

_Dad, would you like some Chap Stick? A nod, yes. Do you want to watch the winter Olympics? A smile, a nod. My dad lay on the hospital bed and I watched the games. That was one year ago._

I opened them again, and I was in the same strange, empty house.

I adjusted my body to a comfortable position and watched the steam cover the mirror. What is my life, a soap opera? Soaps are always exaggerated, unpredictable...and then slowly, all the hidden crap of the dramatized characters starts rising to the surface until it becomes both exciting and unbearable. The water was starting to become lukewarm and I didn't even bother getting out. Too tired. I must've passed out because it was sheer adrenaline that woke me up later that night, my skin wrinkling like a prune. With some difficulty, I got up and drained the water, got dressed soaking wet, then passed out on my bed. After what felt like a few minutes, it was morning and time to go to school. I skipped breakfast and walked into the classroom a lot earlier than I usually did.

Miyu looked surprised when she saw me. "Dude, ohayo! What are you doing here?"

"I got to thinking. From now on, I want a _real _fresh start in Japan."

"Oh, that's right!" commented another girl who was sitting in a nearby desk, "You've only been here for, like, a month. What do you think of Tokyo?"

_A little more than a month, but it feels like six. _"It's still going to take some getting used to, but overall I like it."

"To move from a different country, now _that_ must be amazing," she said. "You know, I've always wanted to see the Great Wall."

Now the entire room was listening to us. A boy changed the topic when he said, "Oi, did you guys enter any nominations yet?"

"What nominations?" I asked him.

"All the third-years have to elect a guy and a girl to make a speech at the New Year Festival."

"I know _one _person who's on the list, period," a girl in pigtails said, smirking. "Who else can it be? Fuji's definitely one of the nominees."

"I'll bet his fan-club entered him," added the girl who was talking to me. "They're insanely giddy about it."

"Ikumi, aren't _you _in his club?" the grinning guy asked. "Haven't you guys heard that he's seeing a girl from Fudomine High?"

"Speak of the devil," she said when the door slid open and Fuji himself stepped in. He took notice of me, or at least it looked like he did, and greeted everybody before taking his seat. "Ohayo, minna."

"Syuusuke, don't you have practice today?" Ikumi asked.

The guy who made fun of her said, "Baka, can't you see it's raining?"

The Smiling Devil let out a noise of indication. "All clubs were canceled, for the morning and after school."

I noted the fact that Ikumi and the guy who called her baka definitely liked each other, but I had no intention on joining the conversation; I tuned out. I went back to my seat, the one behind Fuji's, and pretended to be busy with Miyu's math notes from the previous lesson. Fuji didn't speak. One by one, the class filled and the voices grew. When I heard Eiji's slow and carefree footsteps, I tuned in again.

Doing an imitation of a boxer, he knuckled Fuji's shoulder. "Omedeto, champion! Everyone's saying that you were the very first to be nominated!"

"Everyone says that you've been nominated, too, Eiji."

He laughed. "Does it matter? Fujiko's ladies will make sure that you win, no matter what."

"Quiet!" It was the voice of the teacher. Everyone hushed, and Eiji scurried to his seat. "The nominee list is decided by the student council, so keep in mind that it can't be your decision. Class has begun."

I felt something bump against my head, and found a sheet of paper on the ground. It read:

I know where the nominee list is!!

It's in the gym, the teachers keep it in the ballot desk.

Details at lunch.

Miyu

...

**Seishun Gakuen gymnasium, 8:00 P.M. **

"This is the craziest thing you've ever done, not counting making me join the tennis club," Aya hissed in the angriest voice she could, hoping that it would change her friend's mind. "And you know we're _not _supposed to be on campus this late at night!"

"This was the earliest time I could get out of the house because my parents think I'm at my dance classes. And what's not in our favor? The janitors are done, and it's too dark for anyone to see us." She tried to open the front doors, but they wouldn't budge. "Ugh! It won't open." Currently, it was early nightfall, without a single star in sight. The moon had also disappeared behind the rolling clouds. Aya's watch said that it was 8:04 already. "See, the great janitors must've done it. C'mon, let's go home."

"But the back door's never locked." She slipped away through the corner, and left with no choice, Aya followed her.

The walls were bumpy, like acne. She didn't know how Miyu could possibly _like _roaming around school at night; she thought these Seigaku buildings looked creepier than it did in daylight hours. She reached out for Miyu's sleeve and tugged on it impatiently. "You can go without me, I'm going home."

Miyu grabbed Aya's arm and forced her to walk. "We'll be there in a sec! Don't you want to see who's on the list?"

"Not this badly."

"Well, I do. I might be on it, you know!"

She grimaced when she stepped on sloshy soil, all watered from the previous rain. "You know, this would be a perfect spot to rape unsuspecting schoolgirls."

"Minase Aya..." The shorter girl rolled her eyes. After reassuring her that no rapist would haunt an empty school, Miyu finally found the wooden door. "Aha! It's open, didn't I tell you?"

"I never do this in real life," she murmured, then entered reluctantly. The _click-clack _sound of their shoes echoed through the building. The ceilings were covered with rows and rows of steel beams; three pigeons were nestled on one, their heads tucked inside their wings. Aya wrapped her arms around herself and stood by the door while Miyu rushed to the platform, where the speech is supposed to be delivered. There was even a microphone laid out, ready for the occasion. Determined, she looked over and under, but there was no sign of the ballot desk.

They hissed back and forth in the dark, one wanting to go home and one wanting to explore:

"It's not here! Let's go back."

"Shh, of course it's here. They must've known people would try to look at it, so they stowed it away. Maybe it's under these volleyball nets."

"Or maybe it's not here after all? It could be in the teachers' lounge or in an office or whatever."

"I have a friend who's on the student council, and she said it was here."

"Well, what exactly is a ballot desk anyway?"

"It's a regular desk, but they give it a special name because they're not clever."

"Figures," she said.

"I know, right?"

"No_, _Miyu, I see_ figures_."

Miyu got up off her knees and looked. "Where?"

"At the back windows," Aya said, quieter than ever. The two of them stood still for a full minute, but no one came.

"You're hallucinating. Either that, or you've been staring at a light bulb." Before she could finish, the creaking of the front door caught their attention. Two shadows entered, holding flashlights. Miyu immediately ducked behind the volleyball nets, and Aya followed after her. It was completely dark, except for the two beams of light. Then they heard a voice, a boy's voice: "Are you sure the list is in here?"

"Definitely." A girl's. "It's in the ballot desk, the black one with square knobs?"

Miyu stood up. Surprised, the two flashed their lights on her. "Who are you?"

"We're looking for the list, too."

"We? Who's with you?"

The guy kept the light on Miyu while the girl shone hers on Aya's shoes. "I see you, whoever you are." She stood up slowly, a weak smile on her face. "Um, we weren't expecting visitors."

The guy looked impressed. "Sweet mother of...how many people are hunting for it?"

"Just us. Counting you guys, that's four," Miyu replied.

"Three," Aya said. "I think my sister's getting suspicious." Turning to Miyu, she said: "Tell me about this tomorrow, I'll come to class early again." She said her goodbyes and exited through the front door, leaving the obsessed schoolmates searching the platform. However, she stopped in her tracks when she reached the tennis court. She hadn't been to practice lately because of her punishment, but it's not like anyone took attendance. Or maybe they did. Whatever the case, it wasn't her fault.

She leaned against the fence and stared at it for some time. When she decided that she couldn't possibly stay out here any longer, a picture of an angry mother popped up in her mind, but she then turned to face—the silhouette of a man, standing inside the equipment shed.

_Another student, _Aya thought. She thought about leaving, but Miyu would definitely be excited if she found the list for her. Upon a closer inspection, some of the white paint was rusting off the walls, revealing a rusty brown color underneath. It had one window, which was half-covered by the bushes. The whole ensemble looked run-down and creepy, and she was having second thoughts about the rummaging man. _O-K, Maybe not. _

"Wait! Don't go."

"Eiji-kun!" she said, when his face peeked above the bushes. He grinned, flashing two rows of white teeth. She could've sworn two of them looked like fangs. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Miyu told me that you guys would be here, so I'm helping out. What do you think about these?" He held up a pair of orange gardening gloves. "I wouldn't let something like this pass by without getting involved, nya," he said.

"You smell like banana toothpaste," she commented. He dusted his hands and came out of the shed, dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt, with dark jeans. He looked really cute without his usual attire. He was taller than Fuji, maybe by one or two inches. Just looking up at him confirmed that fact. "The desk's not here, or in the gym. I give up just about now. Where's Miyu?"

She thumbed at the gym. "She's still in there with two other people. It's so sweet that you decided to help," she teased. "But you should probably get home, it's getting pretty late."

"One thing first, Aya-chan. I want to ask you something."

"You always want to ask me something."

"This is important. Here, stand right in front of the window." The wool of his gloves felt thick as he led her to the window, and made her stand so close to it that it touched her nose. She furrowed her brows. "What are you..."

"It's a psychological test," he said, obviously finding the humor in it. "Close your eyes, and open it when I tell you to. Don't look, okay?"

"Sure?" she said uncertainly, but obliged anyway. "When can I open my eyes?"

"When I tell you to," he yelled from a distance.

_Where is he going, that goofball on stilts... _She kept her eyes shut, and kept her feet planted in the same spot. After a several seconds, she thought she felt a raindrop on her head. "It's beginning to rain, Eiji..."

"Hoi hoi," he said, sounding foggier than he did before. "That's your cue!"

Her eyes fluttered open—and a scream escaped her lips. Eiji had gotten back inside the shed, glued his face to the other side of the window, and lowered himself so that his eyes matched hers. She backed up and pounded on the glass. "Get back out here!"

He didn't, but he ducked his head immediately in an attempt to look ashamed. "I can see that you're smiling, idiot! What's wrong with you?!" she said, making him look at her.

"It wasn't a prank," he said, rising to his full height. "I was wondering why you didn't talk to us anymore, and I thought that the kiss had something to do with it."

"How did you know about the...?"

"Why are you being defensive? I thought it was cute."

"I wouldn't call a heart attack cute." She saw his grin erupt into a full-out smile, and she couldn't help it—he has that effect on people—she smiled, too. For the first time in a long time, she finally admitted that she liked being friends with this boy. For weeks she had seen Kikumaru Eiji as Fuji and the tennis team's friend, who she talked to occasionally...but after a night like this, why shouldn't he be her friend, too? They smiled at each other, and the more they did, the funnier it seemed. "Hey—you'd better spill it out. If you're not coming out, I'm going in."

"Be my guest, senpai."

She broke eye contact with him and entered through the door. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, reaching for a can of Ponta that laid next to him. "I found out because I followed you and Fuji."

Her hands flew to her head, and she shook her head as if wanting to knock something out of her head. "Oh, shit, why would you do _that_ for?"

He shrugged, taking a sip. "I don't think he'll appreciate me saying this, but yep, I saw you guys. But I left right after I saw that, I knew I shouldn't have been spying. He sounded really strange, though." Another sip. "I've never really seen him upset, except when he's playing a serious match. Or defending his brother."

"He has a _brother?_" All this time she thought he was an only child.

"Nya, a younger brother. And he has an older sister, who's really beautiful."

Now she was really intrigued. He gets upset at matches, he loves his brother, his sister is beautiful. Aya sat down, feeling lost. "What about his parents?"

"I've never met his mom, but I know his dad works for a foreign employer."

"Have you ever met him?"

"Actually, no." He lowered his drink, thoughtful. "Now that I think of it, I don't know much about his home life. But I think you'll find this interesting, nya. Fuji didn't really grow up in Tokyo, he actually moved to Seigaku from Chiba."

_Fuji was _new_ to this school? _She gaped, her mouth large enough to catch a fly. Her reaction made him say, "No, it's true! I didn't know whether he was sad about leaving or not, but we became friends really quickly."

In her mind, she was thinking, Where was _this _Fuji that Eiji was talking about? Where is he? "I never knew that."

"All of us call him a sadist, but he really does care about his friends. One time, we pressed him to go out with a junior high girl named Kurumi and he was really nice to her. They were friends by the end of the day." Eiji continued to say that Fuji's immune system was built so strong that he could withstand Inui's juices. Fuji was also good at pool, and had a tongue for spicy foods. Aya listened to all this in shocking understanding, nodding quietly.

For the next hour or so, Eiji talked and related back on his opinion of Fuji. And she actually listened. She thought she wouldn't be able to stand anyone say Fuji's name, but she wanted to hear more. It turned out that she misunderstood him from the beginning, writing him off as someone she could never like, and not really taking the time to understand the other aspects of his life. "So, the question is this...how many girls did he kiss besides me?"

"No one," he said confidently. "You're the first."

Silence ensued. She didn't say anything for a long time. "Nya, are you okay? Gomen ne. What did I say?"

"Don't apologize," she said, staring at the floor. It was so quiet that she could hear Miyu and the other two closing the gym door. Next came car headlights, and as it passed by the equipment shed, it sent a square white box moving along the ceiling. The motor stopped, then started again. "I think Miyu got a ride home," Eiji whispered.

Aya didn't respond; she wasn't even listening. She was thinking of the guy who kissed her, who told her he liked her, the guy who made her feel 20 different emotions. There was the guy that she liked, then there was the guy who's going out with An. Which one was he? An was pretty, and An plays tennis, and Tachibana An had a lot of things that made guys look twice. She was sassy and sporty, like a heroine out of a novel. There was only one way to find out if Fuji really is who Eiji says he is.

"Don't apologize," Aya said again. She had made the decision already. "I think you might've just helped me."

* * *

A/N: The end of chapter nine! It took me a while, but I'm happy with it. It's summer holidays so I have more spare time to type, play volleyball, and basically do whatever the hell I like! As always, constructive criticism will be taken into consideration.

Bye!

Luvracci


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